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The Young 
PILGRIMS 


CHARLES HERBERT 


Author of 

The Score of a Score of Years 


PHILADELPHIA : 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 


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THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


By Charles Herbert, 

Author of “The Score of a Score of Years," etc. 



** It is not safe for us to venture in," she said. 


CHAPTER I 

IN TROUBLED WATERS 

“ /^O in and see what kind of weather it is indoors, Exy ! ” 

And as John Wharton made this suggestion to his little sister, 
Experience, his face looked utterly troubled, as well it might ; and when 
Experience returned from a glance through the open door she shook her little 
head. 

“ It is not safe for us to venture in, John, for I fear me much that the 
frown that is on her face has come to stop. And, alack. Father will be home 
soon.” 

Sarah Wharton — their mother — who was the object of their trouble, was 
working away very hard at the hand spinning-wheel with which she was spin- 
ning woollen for her boy John’s jacket, but a dark cloud had settled on her 
face in the shape of a frown, and Exy and John had learned to read this sign 
with ease, for it generally meant that something or other had been said and 
done by “Father,” or said and done to “Father,” which had put her out. 


2 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


Poor Father,” said Exy ; “ he never gets a quiet time. And he’ll be 
coming home tired and, now. Mother’s gone like that.” 

“ It’s just as hard on Mother,” the boy murmured. “ Think of all the 
money Father might earn if he did not offend people. That’s what puts Mother 
out, remembering that ! She can’t hold up her head like our Aunt Emma 
and her husband can. And I really believe that apart from that she has never 
forgiven Father for having been sent to prison. Neither have I ! Think 
how the boys at the Grammar School took it out of me ! ” John was a strap- 
ping youth of fifteen years of age, and he spoke passionately. 

“ Oh, John ! It isn’t as if he had been sent to prison for stealing or drink- 
ing. He. . . . Oh, there is Father coming over the Green ! ” she broke 
off quickly ; and John’s colour came with a rush, for it suddenly struck him that 
he had been thinking hard thoughts of this father of his. 

I do not beheve for a minute that those hard thoughts would have been 
there but for the fact that the boy John loved his mother and hated to see 
her upset. Right or wrong — right or wrong, it did not matter. 

Oh, yes, of course his father thought he was right, but if that were true, then 
every one else must be wrong. The King must be wrong ; the Queen must 
be wrong ; the nobles ^ust be wrong ; the gentry must be wrong ; the 
bishops must be wrong ; the parsons must be wrong ; and all the people that 
went to the Parish Church must be wrong ! And the only people in the world 
that were right must be his father and his few friends. That would have been 
all very well if Father had been a man who had power to get his own way. But 
unfortunately it was the others who had the power, and power enough to make 
Father feel what they thought of him, and it was not so long ago that they 
had made Stephen Wharton, his father, feel that, by imprisonment and by 
fines. Mrs. Wharton had had to borrow the money to pay them, and save what 
she could since, she had never been able to get on, never ! She saw her sister 
in the same town, honoured and respected, going on Sunday to church dressed 
in her satin gown, and laced stomacher ; while she had to hide her head in 
poverty and shabbiness. It was very hard ! It was very bitter ! And it 
seemed as if life had handed to her a cup full of acid. And it was thinking 
over these very things that made her frown this afternoon, and had kept her 
frowning for a good many afternoons. 

Over the Green, skimming along like a little aeroplane about to start. 
Experience flew to meet her father ; and his face simply fit up as if the sun 
was shining from behind, when he caught sight of her, and he held out his 
arms lovingly. Then as they dipt and kissed in the good old-fashioned way, 
Master John strolled up in a very take-it-easy fashion. 

Stephen Wharton’s face did qot light up in the same way as he looked 
at his son, and John’s certainly did not light up at the sight of him. The 
fact was the father was generally stern and the boy generally sullen. Stephen 


THE TOUNG PlLOttlMB. 


3 


Wharton had a kind of instinct that the boy sat in judgment on him, just as 
his wife did, for what he had to make them pass through. 

The three of them walked on to the house, and ere Stephen entered, Exy 
saw her father close his eyes and move his lips as if he were praying, and then 
they went in. Stephen stood on the threshold, but his wife never so much 
as raised her eyes. No, she went on tapping the pedal with her foot, and the 
wheel whirled in maddening fashion, and there was that in the very sound 
of it that seemed to say : “ I’m- very-angry ! I'm- very-angry ! ” Stephen’s 
lips set in grim curves — he knew the signs only too well, then he said, gently : 

“ Had not Exy better lay the platters, mistress ; for you seem to be 
Dusy ? ” 

“ Ah, it’s more than seeming, my man ! Some one must earn a bit ! We 
can’t pay fines from nought ! Exy, set the table ! Put the kettle on ! ” 

It was a miserable evening that they spent after their evening meal. John, 
with a kind of “ I’m-sick-of-it-all ” gesture, got out some of the lessons that 
he had to do for the morrow ; Exy got to work on a pile of plain stitching, 
and Mistress Wharton went back to her wheel ; but Stephen took his Bible 
and began to turn over the leaves, till at last he found a place that he read 
intently. And all the time the loud-voiced clock ticked out the moments 
as they flew — tick-tock, tick-tock ; and the bell chimed the quarters 
and the hours. Seven ! Eight I And then the summer evening began to 
grow dull, and the shadows crept on apace ; work grew difficult, and reading 
impossible, and Stephen Wharton, closing the Bible, said ; 

“ We will have the candles, and when we have had the bread and milk 
then we’ll have prayers.” 

It was the usual thing every morning and every night, but somehow there 
was a ring in the voice of Stephen Wharton and an earnestness in his praying 
to-night that made his wife open her eyes and scan his face narrowly. There 
was something afoot to make her man pray like this — some fresh trouble, 
and that she felt certain. As if they had not already had trouble sufficient ! 

Then when his prayer was over he rose, and taking their candles, the boy 
and the girl went to their little rooms. 

Then Mistress Wharton faced her husband : 

“ There is something troubling you, Stephen. What is it ? ” 

For answer he unfolded a letter that had come from a minister, who had 
used to live in Lincolnshire, but had found it better for safety’s sake to fly 
to Holland, and had been there for some years, where there had gathered 
around him a small crowd of people who had left the old town of Boston, where 
Stephen Wharton lived, to join him. 

“ Master Brewer,” said Stephen, “ has arrived in London from Holland, 
and he has brought this letter from Pastor Robinson, begging any of us, who 
may wish to go from Lincolnshire, or Kent, or Essex, or London, to join a 


i 


THE YOU NO PILGRIMS. 


band of their friends and ours who are going to sail across the sea to found a 
new country in New England, where there shall be no churches, no priests, 
and every man shall be free to worship God according to his own will.” 

Then he leaned across the table towards his wife, who sat there with two 
thin red spots upon her cheeks, guessing pretty well what was coming, and 
he said : 

“ Sarah, it has been laid upon me that I ought to be one of them.” Here 
he raised his hand, as though to silence anything that she might say. ” Wait ! ” 
he continued. “ I have been thinking it out ever since I received this letter, 
and I have looked at it from all sides. Wait ! ” — seeing she was about to 
speak — “ I have tried to imagine what will happen if I stay in England still. 
Less and less work will come my way ” ; she nodded as though she agreed ; 
” more and more people will grow offended ; I shall probably be cast into 
prison ; I am certain to be fined ; it will prove a drag on you and John and 
Experience. But if I go I know exactly what the risks are then ! Dangers 
from the sea, dangers from the climate, and dangers from any wild ungodly 
savages who may be yonder. But methinks even they would be less cruel 
than the godly savages over here — ^these parsons, and magistrates, and rulers 
who will let a man rot his days in prison because he will not obey them and 
share in their pretence of a worship. As for the dangers by sea, there we shall 
be in the hands of God.” And opening the Bible he read from the good old 
Psalm : 

“ They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters ; 
these see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. They mount 
up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths : their soul is melted because 
of trouble. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He bringeth 
them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves 
thereof are still. Then are they glad because they are quiet ; so He bringeth 
them unto their desired haven.” 

Reverently he read the words, and then, more reverently still, and as 
if he found a wonderful satisfaction in repeating them, he read once more the 
last words: “So He bringeth them unto their desired haven.” Then he 
closed the book. 

“ There,” he said, “ that is my faith, and if He brings us to ‘ our desired 
haven ’ we shall find over the seas a harbour of refuge and safety and Freedom ! " 

The last word rang through the little room, and as it died away, Mistress 
Wharton leaned forward towards him and said cuttingly : 

“ That may be your faith, Stephen, but it is not mine.” 

Silence ! 

Then into the silence there glided a woman’s voice, pouring out in querulous 
tones her sense of the wrongs she was receiving at the hands of this man. 

“ Think you that I will leave all my relatives in Boston, and go out to 


THE TOUNO PILGRUfS. 


6 


a people that I do not know ? Think you that I will leave Old England with 
its ways that I know so well, and go out to a land that will be a strange land, 
to be scorched by its heat, drenched with its damps, poisoned with its fevers ! 
Think you that I will trust my body, and the bodies of our John and httle 
Exy on to the planks of a frail ship to face wind and waves and tempest and 
possibly to drown. Is it not enough, Stephen Wharton, that we have suffered 
as we have, and that even our children are called after as they are, and that 
you should be branded with the shame of prison, that you should add this, above 
all, to bring this thing upon us ? " Then, rising, she exclaimed, haughtily 
and angrily : “I tell you, Stephen Wharton, I will not GO 1 I tell you I will 
NOT go ! " And she paused, breathless. 

CHAPTER II 

THE FIRST STEPS OF THE WAY 

I TELL you I will not go ! ” 

Stephen Wharton's wife had said ; and then it was that Stephen 
looked the seemingly angry woman in the face and said : 

“ Then that means I must go without thee ! It will be hard, but there 
were times, harder than these, when a man, because he was a Christian, had 
to send his wife and children, as well as himself, to the lions. I, at least, can 
leave thee in safety, and you will all be with your old friends, and in the old 



?•/ UU you, SUp^ftt Wharton, / will not gof” 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


town. I shall think of you, I shall long for you ; I cannot quite tell how I 
shall do without you, but a soldier has to go to the war, and a sailor has to 
go to sea, and leave his wife and children behind ; and, as what I have to do 
is a far higher thing, I must not draw back from the venture, just because 
you will not go." 

“ What ! You will go and leave us, then ? " 

And Stephen nodded his head three times, dehberately, and Mistress 
Wharton saw that his mind was made up. 

Then she sprang to her feet, crying : 

“ And do you think that I will be left here, for my sister Emma and her 
proud husband to point their finger of scorn at me, as a woman whose own 
husband wouldn’t stay at her side ? Do I not remember well — how can I 
forget ? — how when the wives and children of those unhappy men who fled 
to Holland tried to join their husbands and fathers, and were hindered by 
the soldiers, that they were looked upon in the town as though they were the 
scum of the earth ? No, bad as it will be to be with thee, it seems to me it 
will be worse to be without thee. Besides, think you that I should rest and 
sleep quietly in my bed, when I knew that all the time my man was on the 
deep, or away from me in the far-off land ? No, you would be in my thoughts 
by day, and you would haunt my dreams at night. And, there is this to be 
said, Stephen Wharton, that though I cannot see eye to eye with you in many 
of your strange, new-fangled notions — yet, you have been a good husband 
unto me, and a good father unto mine. Never have we seen thee come home 
the worse for liquor, never has a blow from thee hurt me — perhaps thou hast 
been a trifle stern with John. But apart from that thou hast kept all the 
things thou didst promise at our marriage, and as thou hast kept thy vows 
so will I keep mine.’’ 

Stephen Wharton had risen to his feet during her sudden speech and 
listened, as she spoke, as though he could scarcely believe her words ; and 
now, with his face all strained with earnestness, he cried : 

“ Well, then, my wife . . . ? ’’ 

“Well, then,’’ she retorted. “ I mean just this, that when you go, I go 
— we go. I wish I could do it with a better heart, but I can’t see things as 
you see them, Steve ; but this I will say, that what you have to bear, I will 
bear, and what you have to dare, I will dare, and what you have to share, I 
will share. It can’t be worse than staying here amongst my own people and 
hearing them talk of my man as though he were a gaol-bird, when I know 
that he is a hero.’’ 

“ The Lord be praised for thy words, Sarah ! And, though the road to 
our new liberties may be rough, yet as far as Heth in the power of a mortal 
man, I wiU smooth them for thee and for thine. And think, woman, think ! 
Our John, over yonder, will have fields of his own and a free and a happy life. 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


7 


without magistrate, or squire, or parson to make him afraid. And little Exy, 
if the good Lord spares her, will grow up to find in some decent. God-fearing 
man, a husband of her own. And I shall lie no more in prison ; and thou 
wilt be amongst others who will be proud to know thee, as one who, like them- 
selves, has left behind the things that hindered and dared to be free ! ” 
***** 

Then there followed a time which you children can easily imagine, if ever 
you have removed with your parents from the place in which you used to live 
to another far distant. You know what happened ! Why, what would have 
happened to you ? Once the secret, the great secret that you were going away 
had been told you, how long would it be before you told every boy and girl 
you knew ? You would have been glad of it, proud of it, bursting with the 
news ; and so would John and little Exy. 

At first they would say, “We are going presently!” But the “pre- 
sently ” would quickly change into “ soon ” ; and as the days flew by, there 
came at last a day when they had to call round and say, “ We have come to 
say good-bye, for we are going away to-morrow.” 

And when “ to-morrow ” came, there was a last look to be taken at the 
old cottage by the village green, and the nods and hand-shakes to be given 
to the villagers and townsfolk as they passed through the well-known lanes 
and streets of Boston ; knowing all the time that each step they took was 
the last they would take in that spot, and that every step led them further 
from the place that had counted to them as “ home ” for so many years. 

It was a great adventure 1 Afterwards — well, afterwards they had taken 
the steps, and whatever faced them they would be too proud to go back. But 
I fancy that the steps that cost most were these last steps out of Boston, and 
the first steps towards their unknown future. 

Then began the troubles of the journey. Ah, it was a journey I It had 
to be taken over those rough roads, those rough country roads of England, 
full of ruts and holes ; and as they had to go on foot even to the place 
where they took the barge that was to carry them to London, they began 
to wonder what it would have meant if they had to walk the whole 
way. 

Then this little family, which had never been on the sea in their lives, 
put out through the waters called The Wash, and hugging as close as they 
dared the Norfolk shores, they made slowly past Yarmouth, and from thence 
they crept along making the same voyage that you could make on any Bank 
Holiday, so swiftly by steamer from London, and at last, to the children’s 
great delight, their barge sailed up past Tilbury to Greenwich, and up by the 
Thames to London itself. There at London they found a number of people 
who were waiting to take the voyage with them. There was Stephen Hopkins 
and his wife, and four of his family ; there was Christopher Martin and his 


8 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


wife, and two of his family ; there was Richard Warren, there was John Bil- 
lington and his wife, and a boy, John, to whom John Wharton instantly felt 
attracted, he looked such a mischievous young scamp ; there was Edward 
Dotey, and Edward Liester, both of them men servants of Stephen Hopkins ; 
and, they were all waiting to take their passage in the Mayflower. 

I do not think that among the many people who sail from England to 
America now, there would be many who would care to have tried the voyage 
in a sailing vessel of the size of the Mayflower, but then as she was considered 
a fairly big ship, although now we should nr+ call her a very big yacht. And 
on this vessel they were actually going to aare to sail these unknown seas. 
Talk about pluck ! If ever it found a home, it found it in the hearts of those 
men and women who stepped for the first time on to the deck and into the 
tiny cabins of that good ship the Mayflower. 

Meanwhile, during the time that they were waiting in London another 
smaller vessel was bringing another party from Holland to join them, and 
as soon as the London party heard that the Hollanders had really set sail they 
sailed too to meet them at Southampton. 

There, much to John’s disgust, they had to wait for seven days, kicking 
their heels in that little port ; and he watched his father’s face, as it grew grave 
and worried with anxiety, for who could tell in those uncertain days whether 
some unforeseen enemy had not managed to put a stop to the journey after 
all. But at length on the seventh day, as they were lingering on the quay 
at Southampton, the little vessel, called the Speedwell, hove in sight, and the 
Holland men and the British men joined hands and prayers with one another. 
Then the purchases for the ships had to be made ; and John and his sister 
heard with wonder that they had spent £yco in the port. But you must remem- 
ber that they were not going to a place where they could buy anything, and 
everything that would be absolutely needed had to be carried with them. 
Shoes and stockings, shirts, doublets and breeches ; kerseys and jerseys ; 
waistcoats and leather aprons and girdles ; caps and hats ; hooks and eyes ; 
gloves and linen for handkerchiefs ; mats and rugs and blankets and sheets 
and bedding; all this for their own use. And more important than all of 
these there were the seeds to be sown in their future fields and orchards ; and 
there were the tools that they would have to be used. There were arms and 
gunpowder, and bigger guns and small cannon, and strange to relate, there was 
also carried — what do you think ? — an ensign. The flag that they intended 
should wave to the breeze in New England, when they reached it. 

All this took a great deal of labour in getting on board, but every one even 
the youngest tried to lend a hand ; but there was one young imp who managed 
to get into everybody’s way — it was that unruly youngster John Billington. 

At last, however, they were off ! The word was given, and the two ships, 
the Speedwell and the Mayflower, set sail on August 5, 1620, and for some 


THE YOUm PI LG El MS. 


9 



The littie vessel, called the Speedwell, hove in sight. 


few days — about a week — they sailed slowly along the Devonshire coast. 

John Wharton was enjo5dng himself. This was a real voyage, and the 
only drawback to it was that he knew he would never be able to tell the lads 
in Boston — ^who had given him such a rough time while he was there — all about 
it ; and another drawback was that they were so crowded on board. What 
with the cargo and the cattle and the fowls, and the arms and the people, 
there was scarcely room to move. Men and women and children — they were 
all thrown closely together, and they grew to know one another very well. 

“ D'ye like our new friends, Exy ? " he said to his sister after a day oi 

two. 

Some of them," she nodded. “ I like that Mary Chilton, and Mother 
thinks a lot of her mother. But Mother says that of all the women she prefers 
Mistress Carver. Do you know that these Carvers were once very well set up 
people, John. And they put all their money into buying things for New 
England." 

“ Um," growled John, “ so it would look that Father is not the only one 
who is mad enough to do these things." 

Exy looked at him angrily, but John went on : 

“Oh, it is no good your looking at me like that ! You know very well 
that I don't understand, as yet, what it is all about. Do you ? Come now^ 
do you ? " 


10 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


“It is enough for me that our father thinks it right ! " 

Suddenly John’s attention seemed to wander, for he saw that the Speed- 
well was making signs to the Mayflower, and he rushed to be near the men, 
who at once gathered in a group discussing what was wrong. Then a boat 
put out from the Speedwell and Master Reynolds, its captain, came on board, 
and though John did his best to hsten he was soon driven away by his father, 
who with the rest looked very upset. 

But it was not long before they all knew the news, and unwelcome news 
they were. 

John saw his mother approach his father, and saw his father murmur 
something in answer, and as a result his mother flung up her hands in sheer 
dismay. Exy was looking on and her brother whispered to her — for he had 
enough of being snubbed by his father — “ Go and ask her what is wrong ! ” 
And when she came back she said : 

“ We have to put into Dartmouth to repair the other ship. She’s leaking 
oadly and the captain is afraid that she will sink unless she is repaired.” 

John whistled and hurried away to tell his newly -found friend John Bilhng- 
ton the news ; but when he reached him he saw that he was talking with Mr. 
John Billington, his father, and if there was one man that John Wharton 
thoroughly disliked it was that man ; so he returned to Exy, who was nest- 
hng up to her mother amongst some of the other women, and he stood and 
hste ned. 

One of them suggested that it seemed as if Providence were purposely 
hindering them and saying plainly, “ Don’t go ! Don’t go ! ” But to John’s 
utter astonishment his mother broke in : 

“ More likely far that it is trying what stuff we are made of ! Why, one 
might as well say that Providence had no intention of our holding a washing- 
day because the tubs happened to spring a leak, or that Providence intended 
that we should do without a fire because the wood was damp and wouldn’t 
bum.” There was a general laugh all round and the Faint-hearts took courage. 

But none the less into Dartmouth they had to go, and there the leaky 
ship was, so they said, thoroughly repaired ; and after wasting eight precious 
days, in which they were all spending money and eating food and yet getting 
not a yard nearer their New England home, they set sail again. 

Only a few hours had gone by, during which they had got off the coast 
of Cornwall, and sighted the Land’s End, when the Speedwell again made 
signals that it was in distress. This time it became clear that only by con- 
stant working of the pumps could the water be kept under, and after a meeting 
that was held on the Mayflower they all decided to put into Plymouth, which 
was the nearest port, and have her examined. So back again they went, and 
this time the timid ones on board made their voices heard once more ; and 
when those that understood these things said that the leakiness of the vessel 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


11 


was simply owing to her general weakness, they felt that it was madness to go 
on in the Speedwell. 

Mr. Carver, who had been appointed their leader, gathered them all to- 
gether and he suggested that, as some would have to stay behind, that those 
who were beginning to feel nervous or who fancied that Providence was fight- 
ing against them should go back. And when Stephen Wharton heard the 
advice, it seemed to him as if an icy finger touched his heart and made it shrink 
with fear ; for he was at once afraid that his wife would take the opportunity 
only too willingly to urge him to go back themselves. He looked across at 
her nervously and saw that she appeared very excited, with two little crimson 
spots on each cheek ; yes, he knew the signs. She was about to blurt some- 
thing out and she did. 

“ Do I hear right, Master Carver ? ” she cried. “ Are you advising those 
of us who have sold our homes and left our friends to go back to them? If 
so, to what shall we go back ? Shall we stay here in Plymouth ; do we know 
enough of the people to be sure of a living ? Are friends made in a day or 
two ? Some of us are better off than others, like Master and Mistress Cush- 
man — they can go back to London and their fine friends ; but what becomes 
of all the talk about the Land of Liberty ? Have their preachments meant 
nothing ? Is the England that they are going to stay in a freer, happier place 
than it was at the beginning of August ? Or is the real truth that some of us 
as we have come face to face with the sea and its moods have grown afraid ? 



12 


THE YOUNO PILGRIMS. 


Then what of the faith in God of which I have heard ye speak and at which 
I have wondered ? I, myself, am not as one of you. I am here because my 
man is here, but I believed in him and I tell you that if he goes back, or even 
thinks of it, I shall laugh at him all the rest of his days. Art going back, 
Steve ? " she called. 

“ Never, mistress," he exclaimed. 

There was a sound of approval amongst the rest, and though the Cush- 
mans and a few others remained and some went back to London, the greater 
part said to Carver, “We will go on ! " 

Now it came to pass that John had heard his mother's words and they 
filled his young mind with surprise. 

“Why," he exclaimed to Exy, “did Mother always oppose Father and 
now she seems to be egging him on ? I can't understand it. Only a few 
short weeks and here she has changed completely round." 

“ I can understand it, John. I can ! It is because she has come to see 
that Father is right. I always felt he was somehow, though I couldn't put 
it into words, but now I am convinced, for if both Mother and Father are agreed 
they must be right. It ought to even make you think the same, John- 
Doesn't it ? " 

J ohn gave her no answer, but when they sailed away again on September 6, 
he never troubled her any more by remarks that made her angry, for Experi- 
ence loved her father, and to hear one word against him made her mad. In 
fact the one thought that had counted to her for more than all amongst the 
many reasons for their going away was the thought that now it would be certain 
that her dear father would never have to go to prison any more. 

So the day came when the lights of Plymouth faded out of their sight 
and they were alone on the great sea, the sea that smiled on them day after 
day in the shining of the sun ; and they looked over the side into the blue 
depths of the waters, or watched the frothing, foaming line of track that they 
left behind ; and sometimes at night they would be allowed to creep out of 
their slumbers to see that same sea turned into silver by the moon, or gleaming 
with a strange soft light that the sailors said was caused by the glowworms 
of the sea. 

And so it continued till they were half-way across the seas, and then one 
day Exy overheard Master Jones, the captain of the Mayflower, say to Mr. 
Carver ; 

“ I don't quite like the look of those clouds split up into ribbons that 
lie there in front of us. Where you see that kind of cloud, ye may know that 
there's a big wind at work ; and, worse luck, whatever's there will lash the 
waves in front of us, and churn them up, while the water that's in those cloud§ 
will try to make a cup of this 'ere ship." 

(To he continued.^ 


^HE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


la 



One of the passengers came up to Master Jones. 


Exy hurried to tell John and beckon him away from young Billington. 
But she had scarcely begun her tale before the storm was right on top of them. 
Down came the sails, for it would have been madness to have carried a stitch 
against such a cross wind ; and to meet the fury of the storm and the force 
of the waves they had to turn the vessel round with its hull towards the tempest. 
One day went by — two — three — four, and still they were at the mercy of the 
gale. Every time a fresh blast swept down upon them, the Mayflower was 
shaken from end to end, and while she was thus tossed up and down, and en- 
deavouring to stand the strain against the blows, the side waves that dashed 
upon her at the same time tried to twist the ship, so that at last one of the 
great wooden beams was twisted out of its place — that held the ship together. 

The captain consulted with the carpenters, and the carpenters declared 
that all the rest of the ship was strong and firm, and if they could only force 
that wrenched beam back to its place, then, once the weather broke, they 
would still be able to go on. 

Suddenly, while they were discussing this dangerous disaster, one of the 
passengers came up to Master Jones and mentioned the fact that down in the 


i4 


TllE roMa PILGRIM^. 


ship’s hold he had brought with him an enormous iron jack from Holland 
(a jack is a kind of mighty screw with a hole right through it ; and through 
this hole they pass a piece of stout wood and turn it round very slowly, and 
as the screw rises it lifts an enormous weight that may be on top of it). They 
had not long been invented, and it was a very fortunate thing for them that 
this man had one with him. Down into the hold they scrambled amongst 
the rest of the cargo, and, fetching up this great screw-jack with great diffi- 
culty, they placed it beneath the wrenched beam and raised it higher and higher 
till they were able to hammer it into its place. Then underneath this they 
placed a strong post that was driven right through the upper deck on to the 
lower in order to support it in its place. Then they took pitch and pitched 
all the seams that had been opened by the accident, and once more they felt 
fairly safe. 

Of course, every httle lull and break in the storm was made the most of, 
just as if you were held up by a number of showers, you would run from place 
to place while each shower held up ; but it was very slow work and very 
dangerous. 

One man named John Howland one day ventured himself on the upper 
deck, and in the embraces of a greedy wave he was instantly carried over 
the end of the ship. Only the day previously a coil of sails had been washed 
over and was trailing behind in the sea, and as the wave washed John How- 
land overboard, he caught hold of these sails and held on for dear life. Then, 
just to rescue him, some of the sailors risked their own lives. Some fastened 
themselves against the ship’s sides, others roped themselves to them, and in 
spite of the fury of the waves, the human chain managed at length to reach 
and to grip John Howland. 

Was it any wonder that when day after day and night after night went 
by like this their courage began to sink ? One hundred had left Plymouth 
in that small ship, and there the crowd of them cowered and huddled beneath 
the deck, and waited and waited till God should lift up the light of His counte- 
nance upon them and give them peace. Was it any wonder that after eight 
weeks at sea, four of which had been more or less storm-tossed, that some of 
them should be taken really ill ? And, eight weeks and five days after he 
had left Plymouth, William Button, a mere youth, who had come as a servant 
to Mr. Samuel Fuller, died at sea. And that day that they buried him there 
was trouble in all their hearts ; and there were those that said : “ Ah, if the 
poor youth had never come ! He might have been alive and happy even now.” 

A day or two afterwards, quite different news was passed from mouth 
to mouth ; and Exy whispered mysteriously to her brother John : 

“ There’s a little baby that came during the night to Mrs. Hopkins ; and 
what do you think they are going to call him ? ” 

“Any one could guess that,” sneered John. “They’ll call him Moses, 


TBE tOtJBQ PiLOttlMS. 


15 


of course, just as they called that Old Testament boy that was saved from 
the river/' 

“You’re wrong then," she said, “so there. They are going to call him 
Oceanus because he was bom on the ocean. And, isn’t it funny, his coming just 
makes us one hundred again." 

Strange, wasn’t it ? One life went and another came ! 

Scarcely had the little one been born before it fell upon a day that the 
look-out sent up the cry, “ Land ahead ! " And the pilgrims knew that in 
that far-off dim mass, that looked like a cloud arising out of the ocean, there 
lay the shores of the Land of Hope and Glory that they had gone through so 
much to reach. 

The place to which they had come was Cape Cod Bay. But, as they 
did not wish to land there, they stood further out to sea, and for about half a 
day they sailed along the coast, hoping to find some opening near the great 
River Hudson ; but on their way they found the coast so rough, and so full 
of shoals and breakers that they grew afraid, and put back for the Cape that 
they had left, and the next day they sailed right into Cape Cod harbour and 
cast anchor in safety. 

Now, what do you think was the first thing they did when they thus got 
to what appeared to be the end of their journey ? Well, if youremember the 
kind of people who were on board, and how really religious they were, you 
will easily answer that question. They held a thanksgiving service, and Master 
Brewster spoke to them very earnestly about the way that they had come, 
and the land and its life to which they went. And then, the men of the party 
to the number of forty-one, all filed down into the cabin, and thep drew up 
an agreement by which they bound themselves into a kingdom and promised 
each other to obey whatever laws that they should think to pass for the general 
good of the colony. 

You see that Governor Carver, for he had been appointed Governor by 
them all, was clever enough to see that if they set foot on land and afterwards 
separated, without coming to an agreement something hke this, that a good 
many of them would think that they had a perfect right to do just as it seemed 
good to them in their own eyes. He knew that one hundred people could not 
very easily live together without agreeing upon some rules that they would 
all keep, and that was why he had this agreement drawn up. 

CHAPTER III 

WHERE SHOULD THEY LAND? 

A fter they had made all these arrangements beforehand, planning out 
all that they would do for one another and with one another, then of 
course came the practical side. Here were one hundred people to be disposed 


16 


ME YOUm PILGRIMS. 


of somehow and there was the great country waiting for their settlement ; 
and the question was where they would begin. 

So after they had signed that paper they came to the conclusion that 
the best thing that they could do was to send ashore some men well armed 
that they might do two things : one was to fetch wood for the party and the 
other was to examine the place and to see whether there were any Indians. 

You can imagine how nervous Mistress Wharton, Exy and John were, 
for their father and husband was amongst the men who had gone, and as 
one hour succeeded to another Steve's wife was frantic because she had let 
him go. But presently just before dark, the boat was seen coming back 
to the Mayflower and every one crowded to the sides, and watched the faces 
of the men as they clambered in ; for faces can teU a tale long before people 
speak. Well, what were they like ? Dismal ? Disappointed ? No, they 
were bright and happy, and before they spoke a word every one knew that 
it was all right. 

Then they all got busy helping to carry up some of the bundles of wood — 
for they had brought back with them as much as the boat could [hold — and 
a good thing too, for there was scarcely a stick on board ; and Mistress Wharton 
immediately proposed that they should make a big fire in honour of the occa- 
sion, and they did. Suddenly Mary Chilton exclaimed : “ Oh what a beautiful 
scent ! " and then they discovered that they had brought back with them a 
lot of wood from the red cedar, a wood that has a gum in it hke resin, and as 
it burnt it gave forth a sweet-smelling scent. 

Presently Steve Wharton was glad to sit down and have a cup of tea, and 
then he told them the tale of what they had all seen ; while Exy and John 
and their mother listened eagerly. 

“ The land," he said, “ is a beautiful land. Of course we did not go very 
far in as we were so strange to the place, but we saw enough to convince us 
that the ground is good to plough and to sow — why, it is black with its rich- 
ness — and everywhere we went there were trees in abundance, oaks and pines 
and birch and holly, ash and walnut ; and though we looked everywhere we did 
not see a single sign of any one ahve.” 

John looked very disappointed. 

“ I should have thought there were sure to be some Indians ! " 

“ Good thing for us if there are not ! " his mother snapped. " But what 
I want to know is, Steve, whether it has been settled that we are to go on shore 
at once ? " 

Steve looked at her quietly, and then with a twinkle in his eye he said : 
“Some one has forgotten that to-morrow will be Sunday." 

It was. And though the minds of all the Pilgrims were full of curiosity 
as to the land that lay so near them, not one of them attempted to set foot 
upon the shore. But, ah, when Monday came, there were no hard-to-get-up-ers 



1 










> 


TBE YOVNQ PILGRIMS. 


17 


on that ship. Every one roused ; every one was eager, and they all got to 
work of some kind or other. 

“ Father, what are those men doing ? " exclaimed John, as he saw a group 
of men labouring hard to get a light rowing and sailing boat from between the 
decks over the side of the Mayflower. This boat was one they had brought 
with^ them, which had been placed between the decks ; but to get it into that 
position they had had to cut it down, and now the pieces they had taken off 
had to be joined on again. Open as the boat had been to the influence of the 
weather and the storms, all the seams of this little vessel had to be re-pitched. 
However, they managed to get her to land and busied themselves repairing her. 

Meanwhile, the other people who were not carpenters went on shore, if 
only for a change, and the women — ah, the women had a great washing-day, 
and if ever people needed one, they did. Everything they had was saturated 
with salt and as stiff and dirty as it could possibly be. So the first day passed, 
and then they returned to the Mayflower to sleep. 

Before they slept, however, a council was held at which some of the men 
pointed out that as the Mayflower had come into the harbour they had noticed 
an opening in the land that looked like the opening of the mouth of a river, 
and they suggested that it had better be followed up, for a river was always 
a highway into the heart of any land ; but as it seemed impossible to do this 
without the aid of the small sailing boat that was being repaired, they decided 
to wait till the repairs were finished. 



Helping to carry up eome of the bundles of wood. 



18 


TBE TO UNO PILGRIMS. 


Wait they did. They waited one day, and it turned out to be the first 
of many, and all the time the young people of the party were getting very 
impatient. John Wharton and John Billington hung about the carpenters 
as they worked away, and for the first few hours they found it quite inter- 
esting, and quite sufficient to gratify their curiosity in watching them at work, 
but after a little this kind of thing seemed very tame and they longed for the 
time when they should push on. ^ 

The two boys were not the only ones who were impatient. Governor 
Carver began to look very grave, and towards the close of the day when John 
was kicking his heels by the repairing boat. Captain Miles Standish strode up 
und very curtly exclaimed to the carpenters : 

“ Now, my masters, how long is this job going to block our way ? Come, 
will ye give me your word that it will be done by the end of the week ? 

The leader of the men looked up and smiled as though it were a good 
joke. 

“ ‘ End of the week ' in very truth, no. Captain Standish ; it may be ready 
oy the end of the second week, but even that I would not hke to swear to. 
One could almost build a new shallop quicker than repair this old one.” 

Miles Standish frowned, and stepping to Governor Carver said : 

‘ Sir, we are wasting time, and precious time ! Had we not better make 
up a party to see whether we cannot go overland till we reach this river that 
we are so anxious to find ? ” 

And Governor Carver said : “ Would ye face hidden dangers and snares 
unknown ? ” 

Ay, that I would, and so would many more of us, rather than wear out 
the soles of our boots and our own souls beside on these dreary sands.” 

Governor Carver looked thoughtful and replied : ” I will think the matter 
out. Perhaps you are right.” 

So it came to pass that when Governor Carver had done his “thinking 
the matter out,” that the next day sixteen of the men — Steve Wharton amongst 
them — all of them under the command of Captain Miles Standish, with Wilham 
Bradford, Steve Hopkins, and Edward Tilley as his Ueutenants, set out as 
trackers and pioneers, to tread where white men had never trod, to try where 
white men had never tried ; knowing full well that every step was into an 
unknown country ; a country where strange animals might lurk, where snakes 
might be beneath their feet ; where spiteful natives might lie in wait ; and 
behind them, they left a people anxious and wondering. John Wharton, who 
had been a strapping lad before he left Boston, had grown during the sea voyage 
and seemed very manly for his age, had begged his father's permission to go 
with them but it had been refused ; though Governor Carver, with that gentle 
understanding of what was passing in the minds of others, that always made 
him so loved, laid his hand kindly on John’s head, saying : “ Not the first 


THE TOONQ PILGRIMS. 


19 


time, lad ! Not this first time ! But, if they have to go again, why, I will 
plead for thee myself.” 

“ Thank you, sir ! I will keep you to your promise. I hope they will 
have to go again, but I should have liked to have gone now. I could have 
carried something for them.” Then, he stopped, for there was a very unmanly 
choke in his voice, for the lad was very disappointed. 

” And perhaps if they get wearied or lost, they would have had to carry 
thee. No, no, my son ; wait till the next time, when perhaps thy father and 
the rest will have found the way.” 

It was afternoon on the Friday (and they had left on the Wednesday morn- 
ing) before the sound of firing on the beach was heard by the people on the 
Mayflower, and they put out the long boat to meet the returned men. But, 
meanwhile. Governor Carver and Captain Miles Standish were already on 
the shore and so was John, and many other people. 

Oh, how weary they did look ! There was the strained appearance about 
them of people who have come through great risks, and they had, and they had 
brought with them, strange to say, some com, and it did not need a very clever 
brain to perceive that where there was corn there either were men to sow it or 
that there had been men who had sown it once. Which was it ? Which was it ? 
Ah, that was the question that the returned men alone could answer, and when 
they had rested this was the tale that they told. Yes, gathering round a huge 
fire, the flames of which threw their light on the groups of fascinated listeners 
— men leaning forward to know the worst or the best ; women right glad to 
have their men back, but with minds anxious about the future ; and children 
bent upon every word of a real fairy tale that their fathers had discovered 
in the woods. This was the tale ! 

“ We determined to walk along in single file,” said Mr. Bradford, who by 
consent acted as the spokesman for the rest ; ” for though we certainly did 
not understand why, we had heard that this was the order in which Indians 
always marched and we thought that there might be some reason for it. We 
went along the [seashore for about a mile, when suddenly we saw, as we 
thought, our Mayflower captain here ” — turning to him — ” and two or three 
men, in fact five or six ; and they had with them a dog ; but immediately 
they caught sight of us they turned and fled, and then of course we knew that 
they were Indians.” 

” ‘ Indians ! ! ! ’ ” 

Mistress Wharton clutched little Exy tightly in her arms when she heard 
this ; but Mr. Bradford went on : 

” When we saw this, we at once marched after them, lest they should 
think that we were afraid and also lest there should be any more lying in wait ; 
but when they saw us follow they ran away fast as they could, taking the 
very direction that we intended to have taken, and we followed after but 


20 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


could not catch them up. For ten long miles we traced their footsteps to 
the very bottom of a great hill, up which they ran to see if we would come. 
Then night came down and we made our lodgings there, but as we did not 
know what beasts, animal or human, or both, might come upon us in our 
sleep — and I can tell you, we were tired out — we chose three sentinels and they 
kept guard, while the rest of us kindled a fire there and we stayed that night. 
In the morning as soon as it was light, we were after them again and followed 
their tracks until we came to the head of a long creek ; and from thence into 
another wood. But it was all in vain. Never a man ! Never a hut 1 Never 
a drop of water, and as for food, all that we had was our biscuits and cheese 
and we were terribly thirsty. But about ten of the clock we came into a deep 
valley full of long grass, and there we found some springs of water, and, my 
friends, that was the finest drink, yea, the very finest that we ever had in our 
lives. Then we got up from our resting-place and tried to get to the shore, 
which we managed presently, and there we made a fire, hoping that you might 
see it and know where we were. Then on again we went to the river for which 
we had set out to look, and on our way once more we saw a fine, clear pond 
of fresh water. Ah, it was a place ! Even vines grew there, and a httle further 
on we found a plain about several ordinary fields in size, that looked quite 
fit for ploughing, and there were clear signs that some people had been growing 
corn there already. 

“ Then came the strangest part of our journey. We had wandered on 
along the seashore sands for safety and so as not to lose our way, and suddenly 
we noticed a little path that seemed to lead to some heaps of sand, and when 
we examined them, lo, they were graves, and they had buried the dead with 
some bows and arrows in their last resting-place with them . . . thinking 
perhaps that in the hunting-grounds that were out of sight the Indian who 
had gone might need them again. We went on again, and now we found some 
fields that had been freshly reaped, for there was the stubble, and the trees 
around were full of nuts and there was a great abundance of strawberries. 
We passed on and at last we found signs of a house or hut that had been once, 
and near it another grave, quite new, and when we had digged it up, we found 
in it a great new basket full of this year’s corn ; and the basket was so heavy 
that it was as much as two of us could do to hft it. While we worked at this 
grave our men played sentinel, as before, at night. Then, when- we had finished, 
we talked over what was the right thing to do. We could not buy the com • 
there was no one to sell it. So we concluded to take as much away with us 
as we could and an old kettle that we found there ” — here he held up to them 
an old kettle that had once been upon some ship and had been thrown up by 
the very sea that wrecked that ship — “ and we made promise to ourselves 
that when our small sailing shallop was mended — is it done yet ?— (there were 
loud cries of * No ') — ah, well, when it was mended we made up our minds 


TEE YOVNO PILOBIMS. 


21 



Captain Miles Standish questions the carpenters. 


to sail this way and do our best to find those who had a right to sell us the 
corn and get out of their debt. But we could not bring away all of it, and the 
rest we buried. Near by this place we found the remains of an old fort, a kind 
of palisade, that looked as if it had been built by civilized people, and near 
this we suddenly stumbled upon the river for which we came to look, and the 
opening that we saw was a very great discovery, for lo, it is a very natural harbour 
for small ships, and here we actually saw with our own eyes two canoes. Then 
we returned and came back to our fresh water resting-place and spent the 
night in the same way, with the exception that it was very wet and it was 
difficult to keep the matches burning to fire the muskets if they should be 
needed. Next morning, this morning, we came back through the same woods, 
but lost our way. However, Hn the end we got out of the wood, and on the 
way we saw great quantities of wild geese and ducks, three great bucks and 
three brace of partridges; and so we dragged on till at last we arrived." 

The company drew a deep breath of satisfaction that it had all ended so 
well, but suddenly Mr. Stephen Hopkins burst in : 

“ Master Bradford has left out one incident of this very memorable morn- 
ing and I think I know why." Here his eyes lit up with mischief. "So I 
think I, myself, will tell it if Mr. Bradford will not be angry ? " And as Mr. 
Bradford only smiled he went on : 

" This morning as we wandered we came to a young tree that was bent 


22 


THE TOUm PILGRIMS. 


down in the most curious fashion over the bough of another tree, and all under- 
neath the ground was strewed with acorns. I said that I thought it was put 
to catch the deer, and as if to prove my words, what did our friend here do 
but go close to look at it as if he had been a deer himself, sniffing around the 
acorns — ^he nearly doubled over with laughter at the recollection — '*and he 
must have touched the grass- woven rope that was set there for the purpose, 
for up that young tree sprang as if it had been released, and there was William 
Bradford with his leg — it was a good thing that it was not his head — caught 
in as pretty a noose as was ever made in Old England. He did not tell you 
that, my friends, he did not tell you that." 

William Bradford's gentle face broke into a smile as he said, “ I am not 
a thief, my friends, and how could I rob friend Stephen Hopkins of the enjoy- 
ment of telling ye the tale himself? " 

At this they all roared with laughter — this time at Stephen Hopkins, and 
then they crouched around the fire talking of all the wonderful things that 
they had heard, until at length the tired men and their wives sought their 
rest, having, as Governor Carver reminded them, proved that The Lord was 
with them in their goings out and in their comings in " as He had promised. 

And even the most timid amongst them began to believe that so it was 
and so it would be. 


CHAPTER IV 


John’s first venture 


WO days later ! 



1 There was a sound of cheering on the shore that easily ran across 

the waters to the people in the good ship Mayflower, and instantly they put 
out the long boat to go on land to find out the meaning. And immediately 
the boat grounded on the beach, for it was high tide, the two boys, John Wharton 
and John Billington, rushed to the new-comers, shouting : 

‘‘ Hurrah ! The old shallop’s finished ! ’’ 

“ Was that the cause then of the sounds of cheering that we heard ? ’’ 
queried Master Brewster. 

Master Jones, the captain of the Mayflower, nodded, and said : The 
carpenters had just flung down their tools, and were shouting for very joy of 
heart ; and we shouted with them. Now we shall be able to get on and find 
a settlement.’’ 

John Wharton pricked up his ears, remembering the promise that had 
been made him by Master Carver, and he determined that it should not be 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


23 


for lack of his asking if when the shallop put off on its voyage of discovery it 
did not hold him with the rest. 

During the next few days the men held council after council, and there 
was a lot of talking done, and at last it was decided that twenty-four of the 
men should go, fully armed, that is with muskets and armour, and try and 
find out more about the land that lay up the river they had already discovered. 
Beside all these. Master Jones said he would go with them and take nine of 
his sailors, and on the tenth day, in the morning, they made up their minds 
to leave, much to John Wharton’s disappointment ; for nothing had been 
said to him. 

But boy-hke, he was not to be beaten, and, presently, he crept up to Master 
Carver and said timidly, and turning very red : 

‘ ‘ Please, Master Carver, don’t forget your promise.” 

Master Carver looked down on him with a very kind and very mischie- 
vous gaze in his eyes. 

Eh, eh ? What’s that, what’s that ! My ‘ promise ’ ? Oh, I remem- 
ber ! I promised to plead for you that the next time they went you should 
go too. So I did ! So I did. Well, well. Here, Stephen Wharton ! ” — 
beckoning to John’s father — “ here is a strapping young lad, who is very anxious 
to be one of the party.” Stephen Wharton frowned. But Master Carver 
went on : “He wanted to go last time, and in a weak moment I believed I 



When they saw us follow they ran away fast as they could. 


24 


THE YOUNO PILGRIMS. 


promised him that I would put in a word that he might go with thee. Now, 
Stephen, Stephen ! ’’ — seeing that Stephen still frowned and looked unwilling 
— “ there is no telling in the stress and strain of settling down, whether some 
of us older men may not be laid up ; our places will have to be taken, in that 
case, by the younger ones, and a journey of this kind is the most likely thing 
to fit them for what they will have to do. He is a good lad, Stephen, I have 
watched him well, and I ask thee, Stephen, as a personal favour to myself, to 
take him with us." 

But here John’s mother felt that she had something to say ; for she had 
stood listening in a very worried way to the conversation, and now she objected 
strongly. 

“ Why, John is but a boy,’’ she said, and if any disaster should over- 
take you all — which God forbid ! — John will be in it too. I am risking my 
man already, why should I risk my boy ? ” 

Now, if there was one thing that would have induced Stephen to let John 
go, it was any appearance on the part of his wife of a wish to “ molly-coddle ” 
John. And he turned to his wife with a smile and immediately took the boy’s 
part. 

I will take care of him, Sarah ! And, after all, there is a great deal in 
what Master Carver said. The lad will be of use in carrying things and 
fetching them, and it may be he will be handy in taking messages from one 
to the other.’’ 

“ Very well,’’ his wife agreed sharply ; “ but if anything happens to 
John, it will not be a pleasant face that I shall show thee ! ’’ And she walked 
off with her head thrown up in the same way that you girls throw up yours 
when you cannot get your own way. 



THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


25 



Catching the paddle he dashed across the narrow channel. 


When the party left that afternoon, young John with a grim, determined 
look, jumped into the shallop with the rest, and Jack Billington, full 
of spite at the chance that John Wharton had got, gave him a parting salute 
by putting his fingers to his nose. But just before John left, his mother had 
thrown her arm around his neck and whispered : “ Take care of your father, 
boy ! '' and it was that that had put that grim, determined look on John’s face. 

My, it was rough ! They had taken the long boat with them so as to tow 
it, in case they needed it, and presently they decided that some should get 
into it from the shallop to make more room for the rest. 

But the wind beat against them and actually made it dangerous, after 
they had been at sea for an hour or two, to keep the sail hoisted upon the shallop 
at all ; so, like wise men, they determined to let down the sail, and by means 
of their oars to row in shore, as far as they could go, and then to wade out. 

Leaving some of the men and sailors in the shallop, to come along the 
shore after them when it should be more favourable weather, a number of 
them deterr.'.ined to march inland. 


26 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


Marching on ! Toiling on, still they dragged forward, but when they 
had gradually covered a mile or two the fatherly feehng in Stephen woke up 
for his boy, and he turned to John who was carrying a musket and some of 
the food, saying kindly : “ Art cold, lad ? " 

John looked up out of eyes that were almos t blinded with snow : 

“ ‘ Cold ' ? — well, we’re none of us exactly warm, but I’m all right,” con- 
fidently. ” But, I say, father, don’t you think we should get on better if we 
sang something? It’s always easier to march when you’re singing.” 

Stephen nodded. ” Strike up something, lad ! ” And the lad struck 
up one of the old hymns they knew so well, and the others joined in and took 
courage. It needed courage, for they marched on through the greater part 
of the dark night, and only rested for a little time and that upon their feet. 

It was a trying experience for a youngster, but to tell the truth, among 
the many grumbles that showed the discontent of the others, no grumble came 
from John. He was having the time of his hfe. “ This was living ! Talk 
about school ! Talk about England, and the old life at Boston, why, it wasn’t 
in it with this. Here he was side by side with grown-up men sharing their 
adventure, and — well, there, he was plapng a man's part ! ” 

The next day, about eleven in the morning, the shallop came along the 
shore to them ; and the wind being favourable they had a quick run to the 
river they had formerly discovered : and, owing to their bitter experiences, 
they called it “Cold Harbour.” When, however, they came to talk things 
over they decided it was too shallow a place for ships, though they thought 
it might be a good place for boats ; and having settled this the men landed 
and marched another four or five miles inland along the shore, the shallop 
creeping slowly up after them in the distance. 

The afternoon wore on, and these men, as night grew near, found their 
backs aching and their legs stiff with marching into deep valleys, covered with 
half a foot of snow, and then with clambering out of them. So at length Master 
Jones, thoroughly tired out, turned and said : “ I propose, that instead of 
going on any further, we all take up our lodging under those pine trees yonder 
for the night.” 

Some of them wanted to go on further, but, to John’s delight. Master 
Jones got his way, and they all feU out of the ranks and tried to see what kind 
of birds they could kill with their muskets. 

They managed to bag three wild geese and six ducks, and when they had 
lit a great fire they appointed the task to John of turning the birds as they 
roasted. But John did not mind this in the least. It kept him near the fire ; 
it kept him near the smell, the savoury smell of those roasting birds ; and when 
they were ready, he and all the rest were ready for them. 

Then they slept, and John’s sleep was one long excited dream of Indians 
that were attacking him and all in vain, for he killed every one of them with 


TEE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


37 


his own hand. Then the dream faded and he was back in the old town of 
Boston fljdng before a crowd of the town boys, who were stoning him and 
calling him Puritan and Roundhead. He woke with a start and shivered as 
he looked around at the snowy lands on every side, and then he murmured 
deliberately and so clearly that his waking father heard him : 

“ Even this is better than that ! 

“ What ? better than what, lad ? " 

“ Better than Boston, father, and the old days of roughing it at the hands 
of the townsfolk. This is life ! " 

Dost really think so, lad ? Stephen said, looking at his son with a 
new and pleased expression. “ I never thought in the old days that thou 
wert much pleased with the idea of leaving. But if all that thou hast passed 
through has made thee prefer this to Boston then am I glad that I came ; for 
my son, when some of us have gone, it will fall to your lot to carry on here 
and build the New World that we have come to begin.'' 

“ I think I am beginning to understand, father, at last, what the old days 
must have meant to you ; if you are all of you ready for all you have borne 
and all you will have to bear just so as to escape it." 

More and more pleased did Stephen Wharton's countenance become and 
he said very slowly and deliberately : 

It is a grand thing at your age to discover, my boy. It is worth while 
losing all, and to face anything in the losing, to keep your own self-respect. 
There are only two things that matter in the long run, and that is what you 
have learned, to think of God and what God can think of you ! Now then 
let us get to work ! Hi, you slumberers, wake ! Wake up, men ! " And 
he stirred some of the sleepers with his foot and called to others, till in a few 
minutes they were all on their way again. 

They thought at first of climbing the hill that lay in front of them, but 
one of the men remarked : 

" There is little use in even thinking of searching here for a place in which 
to settle. We saw that the harbour was useless for us yesterday, and a hilly 
country like this would be bad for the old people and for the women. No, 
this is not the kind of place that we want ! " And as the others saw the common 
sense of the words they turned in another direction at the suggestion of Captain 
Miles Standish, that they should at any rate go and get more of the corn that 
they had left buried the last time that they had gone out together. 

So back to the shore they went, and to John's great surprise there on the 
shore lay that Indian canoe of which he had heard. He looked at it very 
curiously, and as he was examining its shape and appearance, suddenly a shot 
rang out — one of the sailors had killed a couple of wild geese and they fell on 
the opposite side of the shore on which they stood. In a minute John was 
in that canoe and catching the paddle dashed across the narrow channel, picked 


28 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


Up the struggling and dying birds and was back again in a few minutes. 

“ It is wonderful the thought and skill they have put in this vessel/' said 
Master Jones. “ For the work of mere savages it goes past one's belief. Where 
did they get the knowledge ? How did they get the skill ? " 

They remained a moment or two looking at the canoe and then Governor 
Carver said : 

“ It must have come to them little by little. Perhaps they saw some 
fallen tree floating on the water and sprang upon it in fun and so found out 
that wood would bear them upon the water. But, remembering as I do how 
long it took for our own sea-going vessels to reach anything like their present 
size and use, I am marvelling how long it took these untaught savages with 
their new tools to become so skilled. They must have lived here for many, 
many generations and each one of them have learnt a little bit more. And 
all the time, across the seas, we were living in towns and cities and they living 
in these woods — just Children of Nature. Verily the ways of God in leaving 
them so are mysterious and past finding out." 

“ These things are beyond a plain soldier like myself at any rate ! " ex- 
claimed Captain Miles Standish, impatiently ; " and I for one think that it 
matters very little. The main thing is whether we can meet with any of these 
Indians and get to trade with them. Let us on ! " And on they went to 
the place where they had buried the corn. 

“ What shall we call this place ? " inquired Governor Carver, when they 
reached it ; and Stephen Hopkins, who knew the City of London and its 
streets quite well,'suddenly had a happy thought and cried out, “ Call it Corn 
Hill ! " And, with a loud laugh from them all, " Cornhill " it was called. 

They found the wheat just as they had left it, and Master Jones said, 
“It is a pity that we were so forgetful as not to bring some tools from the 
shallop for digging further." But John broke in : “Please, I think that our 
cutlasses would make good digging weapons and so would our short swords." 

“That is a good idea, John," said Miles Standish, and the party began 
working away at the ground with their swords and cutlasses ; and it was not 
very long before they found some more in other graves and a bottle of oil, 
and a bag of beans. 

“ What art thinking about, sir ? " Master Jones said somewhat sharply 
to Mr. Carver, who was standing still, looking upwards. 

“ I was thinking, friend, how thankful we ought to be that this is the 
second journey and not the first. Had it been the first time that we had come 
this way we should never had found a trace of anything in this snow-covered 
and frost-hardened ground. Now, we know what to look for and where to 
look ! Verily it is wonderful the way we are being led step by step." 

“ Ah," somewhat contemptuously, for Master Jones was not a religious 
man like the rest and had only consented to bring the party out of respect to 


TBE YOU NO PILGRIMS. 


29 



the money that he would make by it. “ While you were thinking about 
Providence and its ways, I was watching yon threatening clouds." And he 
pointed with warning finger to a great mass of murky clouds that was hurtling 
towards them. “ The sooner that we all get on to the shallop the better will 
it be for us all." 

But this did not suit Captain Miles Standish, who said angrily : 

" Let those go back who will, / am going on ! Ay, if I have to go alone I 
There are further discoveries that need to be made and we are out to make 
them. Are we children, or women, that we should be frightened of a storm ? 
Could any storm be worse than the weather of last night ? Yet we got through ! ’ ’ 

There was at once a sharp division of opinion, and in the end Governor 
Carver settled it by letting the weakest go to the shallop and those who really 
felt exhausted ; but with Captain Standish eighteen others stayed behind and 
Stephen Wharton amongst them. 

" Wilt go with us, lad ? " questioned Master Jones of John, who stood 
there wondering what they would command him to do. 

" Please, I should like to stay with father ! " 

" Well spoken, boy ! " roared Captain Standish, slapping him heartily 
on the back. " Stay with us, lad ! Stay ! " And John stayed. And it 


They found a grave. 


30 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


was determined that while those that stayed should lodge as best they could 
on land that night, that the rest would be on board the shallop and next day 
bring with them from there some mattocks and spades for digging. 

The next day, as nothing had happened, in spite of the fears of Master 
Jones, the whole party marched five or six more miles through the woods, and 
discovering another grave that was covered with boards they opened it and 
actually found in it the skeleton of a man, with some of the yellow hair that 
he had worn still left on the skull. And while they were standing arguing 
about what kind of man this must have been there was a shout and two sailors 
came running towards them. Their hands were full of things and they ex- 
claimed : 

“ We have found some Indian houses and took these out of them, but 
we did not like to stay as we were only two ! " 

So back went several of the party with them and of course John pushed 
his way behind. He was not going to be out of anything that was to be seen 
— not he ! 

Houses," the sailors had called them, but in reality they were arbours 
made out of young trees that had been bent down and the bent ends stuck 
far into the ground by force. Over these had been flung thick mats for a roof- 
covering, and hung from the mats above there was another long mat that served 
for a door. In .the very middle of the roof there was a hole that was evidently 
meant for a chimney, and there were signs that there had been a fire upon the 
ground. 

Crawling through the mat-door John and the rest found that they were 
perfectly able to stand upright inside, and they looked round with wondering 
eyes. Something of the same feeling that makes us paper our walls had made 
these Indians cover theirs with other mats, and even the roof had a mat-ceiling. 
And, somewhat puzzled, they looked at four little ditches that had been dug 
in the ground, and as they clearly showed that a fire had been lit in them, they 
presently saw that these ditches formed a kind of hearth, over which they 
were able to hang their pots and kettles by stretching pieces of wood across. 
And all around the trenches or ditches lay more mats upon which it was clear 
they were accustomed to sit and to lie. 

This Indian house was full of hand-made baskets, and here and there, 
as if for ornament or as a memory, they had stuck into the wall-mats the horns 
and feet of deer — just as they are now placed in the halls of country houses. 

Well, they took away many of the things and went on board the shallop, 
at last quite convinced that they were not likely to find out much more of 
that district, and making up their minds that they would return on the morrow 
and leave some beads and other presents in the hut, so as to show these Indians 
that they did not want to rob but intended to trade with them. But when 
they got to the shallop it looked this time to threaten such rough weather, 


The fovm pilgrims. 


31 


in real earnest, that they determined to get back to the Mayflower and let 
those on board decide whether the kind of place that they had found suited 
them to settle in. 

Great was the excitement when those aboard the Mayflower caught sight 
of the returning shallop. 

The men on board and the women dropped all they were doing and leaned 
eagerly over the sides watching, as the shallop drew nearer and nearer, for 
any sign of a well-beloved form that they could recognize, and Exy’s sharp 
eyes soon picked out the tall figure of her father. 

“ There he is," she cried — " there’s father ! " 

But her mother, who was straining her eyes in the same'direction, exclaimed : 
" But is John there ? My eyes are not as good as yours ; tell me, is your brother 
there ? " 

** I can’t quite make out yet — oh, yes, there he is, and by the crowd of 
them I should think that they are all there." 

But when John returned to his mother there was a manner about him 
that said to his mother as plainly as words could have spoken it : “I went 
out a boy and I have come back a man." It was the look that so many of 
the boys who went out from our homes to the Great War gained on their faces 
— ^yes, it was the look of men who had stared Death in the face and stared 
him down. 


CHAPTER V 

A MARVELLOUS ESCAPE 

S NEEZE, sneeze, sneeze ! Cough, cough, cough ! This was the condition 
of things with nearly every one on board the Mayflower within two or 
three days of the return of the shallop. 

The bitter cold and biting winds had set up quite serious mischief with 
several of the men who had gone out on the voyage of discovery, and it seemed 
very difficult to get rid of the chill. And just as a cold flies through your 
homes, once it gets into the house, attacking first one and then another, so 
it was on board the Mayflower. Worse still, their only doctor was ill, and 
all the remedies that they had were a few simple ones that Master Jones 
carried in his cabin and some balsam such as every good housewife in those 
times knew how to make. The whole company steadily went from bad to 
worse. Mistress Wharton lost her voice (a loss which some of them on board 
who had suffered from her sharp speeches privately thought a very good thing), 
and she crept about looking very ill. So did little Exy ; for she had worn 
herself out in waiting upon the others who were ill in bed, and at last she 
became as bad as they were. 

“ Friend, it is clear that we shall have to do something," Governor Carver 


TBE WVNG PILGRIMS. 


n 

exclaimed to Master Bradford, “ these poor women and the rest cannot be 
allowed to go on like this. Why, the Mayflower is fast becoming an infirmary ; 
and, if it goes on much longer, it is very likely that our ranks will be thinned. 
We simply must find a place to settle in ! " 

So they called a council and had a very long talk over matters, and one 
said one thing and one another, everybody raising difficulties and pointing 
out hindrances, until, suddenly, the pilot, a man named Robert Coppin, who 
had been in these parts before, mentioned that he remembered on the other 
side of the bay another large river that would be easily sailed up and had a 
good harbour ; and he suggested that some of the company should go out 
and examine that, as they did not any of them seem to think that they had 
found a suitable place. 

They had not quite made up their minds when the council broke up, but 
they promised each other to meet next day and to come to a decision. 

Next morning, when John went to the little cabin to see how his sister 
was, she beckoned to him to come close to the bedside and whispered hoarsely : 

John, do you know, there’s another of us ? In the night there was a 
little boy came to Mistress White. Mother told me so just now.” 

So, this little chap was the very first to be born in the region to which 
they had come ; for Oceanus Hopkins was, you remember, really born far, 
far at sea. 

John Wharton left his sister's presence full of the news, and one of the 
first things he did was to put his head into the tiny cabin of the Billingtons 
in order to tell Jack. Jack was there right enough, and alone in the cabin, 
for his father had gone on shore ; and John opened his lips to tell him, but 
instead of this he suddenly exclaimed : 

” I say, you idiot, whatever are you doing ? Isn’t that gunpowder ? ” 

The silly boy had actually got at his father’s gunpowder and was making 
squibs. 

Right in the corner of the tiny cabin there was a little barrel of powder 
half full. Jack Billington having upset a good deal of it on the floor, and the 
silly lad did not seem to understand that a spark from one of these squibs 
might explode the whole, and possibly blow the ship to pieces, or certainly 
set her on fire. 

John Wharton saw these things at a glance and made a rush for the mis- 
chievous imp, snatched the squib away and flung it through the little port-hole 
and it burst harmlessly on the water. But in a rage at John’s action. Jack 
Billington seized his father’s fowling-piece and threatened John with it, so 
that when John turned from the port-hole he found himself looking at an 
angry boy behind the barrel of the gun. He never hesitated a second, but 
stooping under the barrel he sprang at Jack Billington, knocking the barrel 
upwards. In the struggle the furious boy pulled the trigger; the sound of 










THE YOVNO PILGRIMS. 


33 



He saw Jack Billington upon the floor. 


the scattering shot was instantly heard, bringing a rush of many feet to see 
what had occurred. , 

Anxious of face, Governor Carver dashed into the cabin and there he 
saw Jack Billington upon the floor, the dropped musket at his feet, and John 
punching his head with all his might. 

“ What ! Er, what is the meaning of this unseemly strife ? ** 

John rose, looking somewhat ashamed at being caught hammering the 
other ; but quite respectfully he said : 

“ It may be ‘ unseemly,’ sir, but if I had not happened to come in and 
catch this — this young lunatic letting off squibs he would havejblown up the 
ship ! ” Then, pointing his finger at the keg of powder : D’ye see that, sir ? 
And look at the powder on the floor ! And when I took the squib away from 
him he even threatened me with his father’s old gun ”■ — disgustedly. “ So 
I went for him, and I suppose the stupid thing had had a charge left in it, and 
it went off. That was what you heard, sir ! ” 

Governor Carver’s face grew graver and graver as he listened. He glanced 
around the cabin and saw the many iron tools and instruments that were lying 
about, and raising his hands, he exclaimed : 

Thank God for His protecting mercies ! It must have been His Pro- 


34 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


vidence that sent you here in the nick of time. And, thank God, for your 
own narrow escape, for I see that even thy clothes have been singed with the 
powder. As for thee,” raising his voice in concentrated fury, as thy father 
is on shore I will take it on myself to teach thee.” And, putting his hand 
in the boy*s collar he shook him as a terrier would a rat ; then, dragging him 
out of the cabin, he pulled the whining little wretch on to the deck, beckoned 
two sailors and said sternly : 

“ Hold this youngster ! He has nearly blown the whole of us into eternity . 
He needs a lesson, and,” grimly, “he shall have it.” 

He picked up a piece of rope, tarred and thick. 

“ Now,” he said, “ just hold him over one of your knees ! ” And, before 
the whole gaping crowd of the rest of the alarmed people, he gave Jack Billing- 
ton the flogging of his life. 

When every one heard the facts they felt that the wretched boy richly 
deserved all he got ; and one after another stole up to John Wharton and 
thanked him for what he had done. But when Mistress Wharton heard how 
John's clothes had been singed by the powder in the fowling-piece she went 
white as death ; and the passionate hug that she gave her boy told more strongly 
than words what she was feeling. 

Two or three hours later, John Billington, the father, came on board, 
and he heard the story. He was a man of quick temper, and ready rage ; 
and his face flushed, and the veins stood out upon his forehead. The father 
in him resented that any one should lay hands on his son but himself, and 
striding up to Governor Carver, he said with cool, cutting insolence : 

“ Master Carver, when we elected thee as our governor we did not hand 
over to thee the right to flog. It was my boy that did the wrong, so it seems, 
though there are two sides to every story, and I have yet to hear his ; and 
if his tale differs from yon lad's ” — looking in John Wharton's direction — 
“ I shall take my boy's word ! It is as good as his. How do you know what 
really happened ? Anyway, you should have sent for me, by the boat, and 
if there were any flogging to be done, I would have done it. I tell thee, if 
I had come aboard and found thee flogging my lad, I would have smitten thee 
down on the spot. I have a good mind to do it now ! ” 

Governor Carver looked at the angry man, very much as a great St. Ber- 
nard dog would look at a yelping puppy ; looked him up and down, and then 
calmly and simply said : 

“ Friend Billington, thou art angry, and an angry man neither measures 
his language nor means what he says. But let me tell thee that, but for the 
Providential happening of John WTiarton into thy cabin, the while thy boy was 
blowing squibs, with powder from .thy keg scattered all over the floor of thy 
cabin, neither I nor these ” — waving his hands to those that stood around 
— “ would have been here to be smitten down by thee. And, I have removed 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. _____ 

that keg of powder from thy cabin, for it is not seemly that any man, who 
would carelessly leave such dangerous things about, should be trusted with 
them any more. Sir, that is all I have to say unto thee, and if you take my 
advice, you will now join thy son.” 

More and more furious flashed the looks of John Billington as he heard 
the calm matter-of-fact words of Governor Carver. He made a threatening 
movement with his clenched fists, but glancing round he saw that all the men 
were facing him indignantly, and he thought better of it, and, turning on 
his heel, snapping his fingers at them all, he went to the cabin, crying : “ That 
for you and your Governor ! ” 

The boy looked up startled as his father entered and began to cry, or 
rather to snivel, but his father put his arm round his neck and said : 

“ So they flogged you, did they ! Flogged one of my boys. Til warrant 
me they’ll never do it again ! ” 

Never a word of blame ! Never a hint as to the folly that his son had 
wrought ! And that day there was sown in the mind of young Jack Billington 
the seeds of a rebelhous spirit that were to spring up and bring forth fruit 
at no distant date ; and that day there was born in John Billington ’s mind 
a tiny thing called Spite, that was to grow and to grow until it brought him 
and his to ruin. 

i 



Making a defenct of sand and stones. 


36 


TUB YOUNO PILGRIMS. 


CHAPTER VI 

John’s first fight with red Indians 

T he same night, the night of the accident, it was decided that the advice 
of the pilot, Robert Coppin, should be followed, and that ten men 
and two sailors from the Mayflower and three sailors from the shallop, and the 
pilot, should go on another voyage of discovery. Captain Standish, Master 
Carver, William Bradford, Edward Winsloe, John and Edward Tilley, John 
Howland, Richard Warren, Stephen Hopkins, Edward Dotte and Stephen 
Wharton, were the men chosen, besides the sailors. 

John Wharton said nothing as he heard the list, but his eyes were so 
full of longing that Governor Carver saw it, and stepping up to Captain Stan- 
dish, he said something to him very earnestly. Captain Standish nodded 
brightly, and striding over to John laid his hand on his shoulder. 

“ If thou wilt, thou shalt go with thy father and us, my lad. It is a fitting 
reward for thy behaviour to-day. Thou hast proved thyself a man before, 
and though thou art but a stripling, verily, a man’s part shalt thou play ! ” 
Next morning, although the weather was very cold and the wind very 
harsh, they set out in the shallop, and that was about aU they did ; for the 
waves tossed the plucky little vessel as if it were a nutshell. Two of the men 
became very sick, and Edward Tilley fainted away with the cold. One of 
the sailors even became quite useless and lay there as if he were dying, and, 
as a matter of fact, he remained like it all that day and the next night. But 
presently they got round the point of the headland and managed to get up 
their sails, and within an hour or two they managed to get right behind the 
point and were more sheltered, and then had smoother water and better sailing. 

On they went before the wind, but though they watched the shore eagerly 
they saw no river, neither any opening that seemed to promise one. But by 
this time they were rounding another point in the land, and soon found 
themselves in a narrow bay ; and they swept on through the bay to the land. 

As they drew near to the shore they caught sight of about a dozen Indians, 
but immediately the Indians saw them they tore away. Coming to the shore 
they built up a barricade of sand against the wind and, gathering firewood, 
lit a fire, appointed sentinels, as before, and made that sand pit their lodging 
for the night. And as the night grew darker they were reminded of the pre- 
sence of Indians by the smoke of the fires which they had evidently made about 
four or five miles distant. In the morning the company split up ; eight of 
the eighteen remaining in the shallop, and the rest went to examine the place. 

It appeared to be only a bay, but it certainly had a very good harbour, 
and the land, here, seemed to be far more level than any of the other places 
they had seen in their former adventures. There was also plenty of fresh water, 
and they noticed a great number of fish cast up on the beach. 

' (To be continued.) 


THE TOUNG PIL&HJMS. 


37 



Arm / Arm / The Indians are coming ! ” he cried. 


They followed the track the Indians had made along the sands ; and 
when they noticed that their footprints had struck into the woods they went 
in also and found themselves by the side of a great pond. Presently they 
discovered a great burial place ; and they went on further and found signs of 
fields that had evidently been sown with corn ; but, though they found several 
more Indian houses, they saw no people. Then as the sun began to sink they 
made their way to the shallop and had a good meal, and rested as they done 
the night before. Early in the morning they bestirred themselves after they 
had had prayer together, and they were wondering whether they should leave 
their armour on board the shallop and had laid the things down upon the 
shore when one of the company, who had been roaming about, came rushing 
with the cry : “ Arm ! Arm ! The Indians are coming ! 

Come they did ! With great and strange cries, they sent their arrows 
flying amongst them, and the party hastened to gather up their arms from 


38 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


the beach. Meanwhile, Captain Miles Standish, happening to have a musket 
ready, fired a shot amongst them, and another man let fly also. By this time, 
two of the others were ready, but the Captain cried out, “ Don't shoot ! Don't 
shoot till you can take careful aim. You will only waste your powder ! " 

By this, also, those on board the shallop in the distance had heard the 
noise and were arming as fast as they could ; but till they could come to their 
aid, the few men on the shore determined to turn their sandy barricade into 
a place of defence, and there they waited for the Indians' assault. 

Thick and fast came the arrows, and one man in particular, taking up 
his stand behind a tree, shot at them repeatedly ; and, unaccustomed as he 
was to facing firearms, he must have been very brave, for he stood three care- 
fully aimed shots without running ; but the fourth appeared to hit him, for 
with a scream he ran off and the rest followed, with the men from the party 
after them in full chase. And, understanding from the cries that the Indians 
had made what they considered noise, and plenty of it, to be a great part of 
fighting, the Mayflower men shouted at the top of their voices as they ran and 
let off a musket or two, just to lend speed to their flying foes. 

Next day, drenched through and through by the pitiless rains of the night, 
they examined the island and went all about it, and then thoroughly tired 
out they determined as it was Saturday to rest, and next day being the Sabbath 
they spent that also resting, but on the Monday, much refreshed with their 
day and a half’s quiet from labom: and adventure and risk, they sounded the 
harbour between the island and the land and they found that it was capital 
for all their purposes. Then in the shallop they crossed over to the main- 
land, and lo, none of the objections they had found in the other places were 
to be discovered here ! Here there was plenty of water, little brooks abound- 
ing, and the soil appeared to be very good for cornfields. 

What more did they want ? Harbour, fields, fresh water, a sheltered 
position, an easy access to sea, a level spot on which to build their town, a 
place that would be easy of defence by land or sea — what more did they want ? 
And with one accord they looked at each other, and as if the Spirit moved them 
they exclaimed : “ This is the place ! This is the place ! " 


CHAPTER VII 


A TERRIBLE BLOW 


HEY will be pleased on board when they hear," said Master Bradford 



1 happily as they sailed back swiftly as they could. “ It was only the 
other day that my wife Dorothy was saying that, if the state of uncertanty 
lasted much longer, she for one would go mad." 

“ Ay," muttered Miles Standish “ ay ! It has been hard, yea, very hard 
even upon us men ; what must it have been to our wives ? " 

Bearing along before a favourable wind it was not many hours before 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


39 


they made the Mayflower men in the shallop saluted the waiting folk 
with a cheer to let them know that all was well, but they looked at one another 
in surprise when there was no answering cheer ; and the minds of one or two 
began to be full of misgivings. 

The long boat put out to fetch them to the ship and they were soon on 
board, the men greeting their wives and those that had them embracing their 
children ; but Master Bradford looked round astonished. He was scanning 
the faces of the crowd for his wife Dorothy, but he could not see her. 

** Well,” he said cheerily to the folk who were crowding the new arrivals, 
you will all be pleased to hear that we have found you a place in which to 
live, and the sooner we get there the better. I hope that the floating infirmary 
that we left has improved its condition, and that you all of you are well again, 
I see that little Exy is better,” stooping to kiss John's sister. “ Your brother 
has done famously, and though he is but sixteen years he has had a great fight 
with Indians. Well, well, how is it with you all ? Why don’t some of you 
speak ? ” For suddenly it struck him that they were all looking on him with 
very sombre faces. “ Is anything wrong ? ” he asked abruptly. 

There was a silence that could be felt for a moment or two ; then Mistress 
Wharton, standing with her arm tucked in Stephen’s, said : 

“ When thou didst leave us. Master Brad^rd, it was on a day when a 
little life had come aboard ...” 

“ Ay, ay, surely the child is not dead, and that is why you all look so 
mournful ? ” 

“ Nay, the child and the mother are both well, but the Hand that brought 
the baby to the ship has removed one from our midst. Master Bradford, I 
saw thee looking around for thy wife Dorothy. She is not here ! ” 

“ ‘ Not here.’ I — I — do not see thy meaning. Speak plainly, woman ! ” 

** I will,” she returned. “ Master Bradford, I am sorry to have to tell 
thee, but thy wife is dead.” 

He received the news as though he did not realize it. 

” Dead ? How ? Why ? When ? ” he exploded. 

“ She fell overboard and was drowned before she could be rescued. It 
was the day after that you left.” 

My Dorothy — dead I ” And the stricken man went to his cabin and 
they left him alone. 

An hour or two afterwards he came out of the cabin, and, as he appeared, 
Governor Carver stepped up to him and laying his hand upon his shoulder 
began to speak, but raising his hand as though to stop him Master Bradford 
said calmly : 

” I beseech thee do not refer to the sad matter. And if all of you will 
keep silent I shall be obliged to you. There are things that cannot be put 
into words.” 


40 


THE YOVNO PILGRIMS. 


Governor Carver bowed low in sorrowful agreement, and was moving 
away, when Master Bradford said eagerly : You may at least tell me what 
they have done with her ? ” 

** They buried her in the deep till the sea gives up its dead.” 

Master Bradford went and looked over the side of the ship, gazed down 
into the depths that held the body of the being he loved most on earth, and 
when John passed him an hour later he was still standing and still gazing; 
but presently little Exy crept up to him and sUpping her warm httle hand into 
his. Master Bradford’s hand clasped over it, and so they stood. 

Captain Miles Standish was leaning against the mast a little way off by 
the side of his wife Rose. 

” Ah,” he murmured, ” poor, poor fellow. Why, if it had been thou. 
Rose, what should I have done ? ” 


CHAPTER VIII 

HARD WORK 

I T was with very mixed and queer feehngs that the good people on the May- 
flower looked towards the land in the new and larger harbour that the 
search party had advised them to settle in. 

As they gazed around they found themselves in a curious bay, the land 
of which curved something hke the shape of a sickle ; and as they gazed on 
they could see two fine and beautifully-wooded islands in the bay. Presently 
it became very evident that the bay itself would be full of fish, for they easily 
caught them, and as for wild fowl — well, it was clear that there were whole 
flocks of them to be had for the trapping and shooting. So one great anxiety 
was lifted from their minds — the anxiety as to food. For with plenty of fish 
in the harbour, and plenty of fowl, at sea and on shore, it was certain that 
while they were waiting for their com to grow, they were not Ukely to starve. 

It was Saturday when they arrived off Plymouth Bay, as they now made 
up their minds to call it, and being very determined to get to work at once, 
they made preparations for some of the things they would be sure to want 
when they all landed, by sending men ashore to cut down and stack up piles 
of wood for their immediate use. 

Wood-cutting is not such adventurous work as travelling and fighting, 
and young John Wharton was by no means so eager to join this party as he 
had been the others. But his father noticed it, and laying his hand on his 
shoulder, said : 

” Now, John, the hard work is going to begin ! ” And, flinging out his 
hand towards the shores : ” Methinks there will be very httle else waiting 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


41 


for us all for years yet to come. Everybody must be willing to lend a hand ; 
the man who won’t take his share of the burden will only make the burden 
of the others heavier. So don’t forget, lad, that whether it is wood-cutting, 
wood-chopping, digging, ploughing, sowing, shooting, fishing or — may God 
forbid — fighting, it is all part of the work, the work that is going to make yon 
shores the Land of the Free ! ” 

John’s eyes glistened, there was something about him that really felt 
this appeal of his father. He was getting to understand his father better every 
day, and it was only last night that he had said to Exy : 

“ If you could only see Father, when he is out with the rest of us on our 
dangerous journeys, you would never believe it was the same quiet, grave 
man that used to be in old Boston. I never understood him then, but I’m 
beginning to see what a fine, brave man he really is. He was wasted in old 
England ! ” 

Ah, but old England would never have known how wasted these men 
were, for they hved in an age when the Drakes and the Frobishers and the 
Raleighs and the Richard Grenvilles were the heroes whom folk thought to 
be heroes indeed ! But if you had told any of the people that on that May- 
flower, in the bodies of humble men like Stephen 'N^arton, there lay buried 



42 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


the powers of great Empire-Builders they would have laughed you to scorn. 

Anyway, young John Wharton caught the thrill of his father’s purpose, 
and he began the work of Empire-Building by doing his share at wood-cutting 
on that first Saturday. 

The next day being Sunday they spent on board the ship and on the 
island, but on Monday they started in earnest to find the place in which they 
would build their first houses. They marched along the coast several miles, 
noticing everything that could recommend any one spot, such as the kind of 
trees around, the kind of water and the kind of ground. Then they went aboard 
again. Next day, Tuesday, they had another long look round and discovered 
to their delight a very pleasant tidal river at which, at high water, a very decent 
vessel might pass, and they would like to have chosen that spot, but it was 
so full of woods they saw easily that it would enable the savages to creep on 
them unawares. So they decided against that. But next morning it dawned 
on them that as their food was running out, especially their beer, it certainly 
was high time that they made up their minds. So, after going ashore again, 
they chose a high ground on the bank facing the harbour, where the fields 
seemed to have been already used and planted and where there was plenty 
of water. 

The place had one advantage, that in one field there was a great hill from 
which they could see»far out to the ocean, and on which they determined 
to plant their cannon so as to command the country round about. There 
was no time to potter around any more, and there they decided to make 
their first buildings. 

But the hindrances were not over ! Thursday and Friday an awful storm 
beat all around them, and it was not till the next Saturday that they could 
go timber-felling again. 

It was terribly hard work, and John’s bones and muscles were not the 
only ones that ached and felt stiff ; for they were all unaccustomed to felling 
trees, sawing wood into planks, fetching and carrying great weights, and 
the hammering of planks into their place, but by the following Thursday they 
began to build their platform for their cannon, and laid their plans for two 
rows of houses to form a street. 

They discovered that there were nineteen famihes that would have to 
be provided with land and houses, and all single men that had no wives were 
commanded to join themselves to any family they thought fit. And all this 
time while they were working they saw about six or seven miles from them the 
perpetual smoke of the Indians’ fires. 

It must have been with very strange feelings that, while they were work- 
ing like this day by day, that the end of the year 1620 came. The last year 
of the Old World, and then dawned 1621 — the first year of the New. Christmas 
Day stirred in them old memories of home and so did New Year’s Day ; and 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


43 


Master Brewster, who had been appointed their Elder, preached to them some 
sermons that seemed to move the men and women of the party to ready tears. 
How their hearts burned within them as he talked to them by the way ; as 
they saw the wind-chumed ocean before their eyes, or suddenly turned and 
gazed at the unknown belt of country that surrounded them behind, and, 
as in the very midst of their worship, they were deafened by the roaring of 
the waters as they burst upon the beach. 

On Thursday, the fourth day of the New Year, Captain Miles Standish 
made John flush with pleasure by saying : 

** Come along, lad ! Four or five of us are going to that place of smoke 
and fire where those Indians have been hanging out. You can come too.” 

Six of them jogged along, all the time holding their muskets ready in 
case they had to use them, which meant keeping their sulphur matches aUght ; 
for in those days muskets were only able to be fired by a lighted match, applied 
to the powder. Presently, they came to the Indian encampment, and there 
they saw some of their houses but there were no Indians in them ; and they 
came back disappointed, for they had hoped to be able to trade with them. 

But, as they returned, suddenly Captain Miles Standish stiffened into 
instant attention, and cried eagerly to John : ” See, yon eagle ! ” 

Immediately John had his musket at his shoulder, as well as Captain 
Standish, and they both aimed at her and she dropped hke a stone. For a 
moment or two Captain Standish seemed vexed ; more especially, when they 
picked up the strong-smelling bird and discovered only one shot had killed her. 

” Now, how are we to know which shot brought her down ? ” he ques- 
tioned irritably. 

” It must have been yours, sir ! For I fired a httle after you.” 

Captain Standish looked rather pleased at this and, laughing, he said : 
” Well, there’s one thing, we can both of us eat her. I’m told, that if one 
didn’t know beforehand, you could never tell that you were not eating 
mutton.” 

Meanwhile, while these adventurous and industrious men laboured on 
land, on board ship there were all manner of preparations going on for the time 
when they should all land. There were packages to be made ready of beds 
and bedding, so that at the first night the women and the famihes got to shore 
there would be something on which to lie. Some of them, more thoughtful, 
were busy making heavy curtains, for they had taken to heart all that they 
heard about the way that the Indians lined their huts with mats. There must 
be some reason for it, and they did not wish to be caught napping, by only 
finding out the reason when they had to suffer through the cold. 

Ah, it was cold ! The Pilgrims had come to this place at the very worst 
season ot the year, and everything in Nature appeared to be in arms against 
them. The weather searched for their weak spots, and it was only nineteen 


44 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


days from the time of their reaching Plymouth Bay when Master Christopher 
Martin died. The very day before Christmas Day his httle son, Solomon, 
had gone before him, and his father quickly followed, leaving behind him his 
wife and another child. It was no wonder, for the severity of the atmosphere 
was enough to try the strength of the strongest man, and the women were 
getting very, very impatient that the men did not build more quickly, but 
one of the most impatient of them all was Master Jones, the Captain of the 
Mayflower, who was anxious to get back to England. 

The very day that Christopher Martin died, Francis Billington was on 
shore. This young man and his father, ever since his father’s quarrel with 
Governor Carver about flogging his brother J ohn, had kept themselves to them- 
selves in a very strict way and never mixed with the rest. He and his father 
were men with a real grievance, and as he saw party after party depart to 
make fresh discoveries, his hurt sense that he was wronged got deeper and 
deeper. He began to wonder whether he could not do something that would 
be entirely on his own, just to show the rest what he could do. 

So, on this very day, when all thoughts were busy with the things that 
were taking place on board, he turned to one of the sailors and dared him to 
come with him and see what they could find for themselves. 

“ We are too much in leading strings in this company,” he observed. 
” It must be ‘ By your leave this, and by your leave that.’ I am sick of it 
and I am going off to see whether all the power to find out things rests with 
these men who think themselves some one. Wilt come with me, or not ? ” 

And the sailor went. 

Francis Billington did not tell the sailor that a week before he had thought, 
when he had climbed a high tree, and had a look round, that in the distance 
he had discerned an inland sea, that nobody as yet had noticed. It was this 
that he was out to find, and in the direction that he had seen it they walked 
on. One mile, two miles they went, and at the end of the third mile there 
the great inland lake burst upon their eyes in all its beauty. It was a mighty 
piece of water and appeared to be divided into two great lakes. It was at least 
five or six miles in size and the smaller of the two about half that. The water 
was of the sweetest and freshest and full of fish, and they were proceeding 
further in their search when suddenly they caught sight of some Indian houses, 
and one look was sufficient. They remembered that they were only two men, 
and that between them they had only one musket ; so Francis Billington 
and the sailor turned their backs upon their great discovery and hastened 
back to report it with great pride. WeU, the pride was deserved, though httle 
did the man think that 300 years after, that great mass of water that he had 
just found would be known by his own name, the name of BilUngton Sea ! 


TEE YOvm PILGEIM8. 


45 



CHAPTER IX 

“ LOST ” 

I F any one had kept a diary of the following days the pages would not have 
been very bright reading. Master Bradford himself was taken ill, and 
for a time it seemed as though he would be called away to a stranger land 
still ; but fortunately for the rest he recovered. He of all people could have 
been ill spared. And meanwhile, among the rest, the amount of sickness grew 
greater and greater. The truth was that the long sea voyage and change 
of chmate was upsetting them all. And, as if they had not already sufficient 
to bear, it came to pass on the twelfth day of the New Year that the whole 
little settlement was plunged into a bath of worry. 

Four of the men had been sent out to gather and cut thatch for the roof 
of the big Meeting House they were putting up first of all ; thinking that they 
would need it beyond everything. In the afternoon, two of these four men 


46 


THE YODNG PILGRIMS. 


became separated from the others, and wandered on to find some more, under- 
standing that the two they had left behind would follow them on. They fol- 
lowed rightly enough as they were told, but failed altogether to find the men 
they sought. So after a long wait and shouting and beating through the 
woods, they returned very anxiously to the plantation. 

“ Lost ! Two men lost ! ” The news flew from mouth to mouth, and 
while they stood there hesitating. Captain Miles Standish exclaimed : ^ 

“ Something must be done. Yes, something must be done at once. 
Why should not some of us go and look for them ? ” 

And falling in with this suggestion. Master Carver and three or four more, 
including John Wharton — who quite naturally fell in with the party as though 
he had a right to — determined to trace them ; but all of them came back 
looking very worried, and without having discovered anything further. An- 
other party went out, and stayed out till late at night ; but it was still useless. 
So, as nothing could be done any more that night, they were forced to wait 
till next day. 

Next morning they sent out another party, this time fuUy armed, for they 
began to suspect that the two men must have been taken by surprise by some 
Indians ; but though they tramped many miles, their search for either the 
Indians or the missing men was still fruitless. 

In great sorrow of heart they gave them up, for Friday and the great 
part of Saturday had gone by, and they all knew that the missing men had 
no food with them, and the weather was bitter enough to have chilled even a 
well-fed man to death, so with broken hearts they gave their comrades up 
for lost. But to their amazement, as evening drew on, they saw these very 
two men come hobbling in on feet almost too frostbitten to be used. 

“ Here they are ! ” shouted John, and there was a rush to meet and welcome 
them, but before the poor fellows could reach the warmth and food of the 
camp itself, the reaction set in and they fell down fainting. When John Good- 
man came to he found they had cut off his boots, for his feet were so swollen 
that it had been impossible to take them off, and though the other man 
recovered quickly, John Goodman was lame in the feet for many a day. 

It appeared from what the men said, that they had simply wandered off 
to refresh themselves a little, and discovering a new pond of water naturally 
walked round by its banks. This would have been well enough, but they 
happened to have with them a mastiff and spaniel, and these scented and 
chased a hare ; and it was in following the dogs that the men lost themselves. 
All the afternoon — all the evening, they tried to retrace their steps, till 
thoroughly worn out and wet through they gave themselves up for lost, and 
thought it better to wait where they were till others should come to find them. 
It was a long wait. And when night came they saw the impossibility of others 
reaching them, and as it was too dark to see in which direction the harbour 


THE YOVNG PILGRIMS. 


47 



lay, either by climbing a tree or by going up some hill — they did the only thing 
possible. They dug themselves into the snow like a dog, and lay down with 
the dogs close to them in order to keep themselves warm. 

But suddenly they heard what seemed to them to be the roaring of lions, 
and, frightened to death, they made for the shelter of the trees, thinking, in 
all innocence, that if they were at the foot of the trunk they could chmb quickly 
up if the wild beasts came. Fortunately for them their night disturbers clearly 
found other prey closer to hand ; at any rate they left them alone, though in 
their fear they walked up and down underneath the tree all night, forced to 
keep on moving owing to the intense cold. 

As soon as it was hght, they travelled on slowly and painfully in the hope 
of finding some hill from which they could see the direction in which the May- 
flower lay ; for climbing a tree was now out of the question, as they seemed 
to have n'o feeling in their feet ; and so they dragged on, and it was not until 
the afternoon that the poor fellows found one, and then slowly pushed their 
feet by sheer force of will in the right way. Helping one another, they covered 
what seemed to them as a terrible distance, till gradually, as night fell, they 
arrived at the camp. 

“ Let this be a lesson to us all,” exclaimed Governor Carver to the men, 




They travelled on slowly and painfully. 



48 


TBE roVNG PILGRIMS. 


who hung eagerly on the tale as it was told. “ Separation is suicide ! And 
until we know the place and all its dangers we must go in groups.” 

” My mate and I did not go in groups,” said Francis Bilhngton surlily, 
” when we discovered the big sea a few days since. We had not even a dog 
with us.” 

” True,” answered Governor Carver, ” but because the foolhardiness of 
two of us has been allowed to escape, and the misfortune of two others of us 
has by God’s blessing not proved quite fatal, that is no reason why any of the 
rest of us should fling away our lives in future. If thou dost try to discover 
another big sea, friend Francis, I lay my commands upon thee that you share 
the risks with the rest of us — ay, and the glory.” 

As he said the last words he looked at Francis Billington keenly, for he 
had discerned the real reason that had caused that awkward young man to go 
off upon his own. Francis Bilhngton crimsoned furiously and stammered 
out that he saw no difference between these two who had returned now and 
himself and mate ; but in the midst of his wordy argument. Governor Carver 
turned on his heel, saying : 

” Friend, I am afraid I have no further time to talk to thee ! ” And he 
left him behind clenching his fists and biting his lips in sheer spite. 

Meanwhile, the people who were remaining on board knew nothing of 
the return of these two men on the Saturday, but about six in the morning 
of Sunday there was a great outcry on the Mayflower, for those who were 
awake had caught sight of the fact that the newly-thatched Meeting House 
was on fire, and every one on board went ashore in the long boat, instantly, 
with their minds filled with gloom. Immediately they arrived, however, 
they were told not to worry, for it was only the thatch of the roof that had 
burnt and the roof itself still stood. 

There were mutterings and wonderings as to how the fire had come about, 
and there were those that thought, well — they looked in the direction of John 
Bilhngton and his sons, but, though they thought, they did not think aloud. 

It was a great escape, for the Meeting House had naturally, up to the 
present, been turned into the bedroom of most of the workers, and as it was 
full of powder and tools, and every implement they needed, it would have 
been a great loss. 

They had scarcely got over these two scares before another made them pale. 

Four days later, crippled John Goodman, who was getting impatient 
that he had to sit there idle, while the others worked, made up his mind that 
however it hurt he would, yes, he simply would exercise these wretched feet 
of his, and taking his little spaniel with him he managed to get a few yards 
from the plantation, his fit tie dog wandering in front. Suddenly there was 
a snarl, and two gaunt, hungry, timber-wolves rushed from the wood upon 
the dog, and the dog yelping with terror, made to the man for refuge. 

{To he ecntinued.) 













THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


4S 



He took up a stick and threw it at them. 


It was a pitiful position. A cripple, with no means of defence in his 
hands. But he took up a stick and threw it at them with all his might and 
managed to hit one, which liked it so little that he ran away, the other 
following. 

Much relieved, John Goodman was creeping back to the settlement, when 
to his astonishment those two wolves returned, loping along over the snow 
with easy leaps. This time, he seized a piece of board in his hand and stood 
still waiting for their attack, but they sat on their tails, grinning at him in 
anticipation, and he waited there grimly — ^not grinning. They sat, he stood, 
the dog growling all the time ; and the duel of glances went on for some time ; 
then, presently, the wolves looked at one another, seeming to confer, and the 


50 


fEE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


moment after, with great thankfulness, he saw their lean, sinewy bodies swiftly 
vanish, like two dark streaks over the snow. 

Here then was a fresh terror — Indians before, and now, wolves ! 

They saw clearly there was all the more reason that they should set up 
one place at least that would be a place of refuge for them all ; some place 
they could fortify if necessary. So on the Saturday all hands got to work to 
complete this common Meeting House, and on the Sunday the building being 
fairly finished they made use of it for worship. 

The following week they turned themselves into furniture and provision 
movers. Backwards and forwards, backwards and forwards, went the long 
boat to and fro from the ship to the shore, bringing bags of meal and many 
other things to be stored ; and while most of them worked in this way the 
remainder were busy plastering their wooden houses with thin clay, that 
they pressed like putty into the timbers of the walls. 

They were very proud of their work, I can tell you, and John Wharton 
called his mother’s attention when she came ashore to the fact that no wet 
would be hkely to get through them. But alas, for human hopes ! A week 
later a terrible storm of wind shifted a greater part of their work, and a spell 
of returning cold prevented them from getting on either with repairs or erections. 

And still the sickness grew amongst them. 

What a six weeks it had been ! Working by day and night ; working on 
sea and land ; hindered by all the conditions around them, and standing all 
the time in peril from disease and destruction ! Ah, brave as had been the 
voyage, braver still was the settlement. And worse than all, eight of their 
number had died , and amongst them was Rose, the wife of Miles Standish. 
Only one month of the New Year in the New World had she seen, and then 
she went to join Dorothy Bradford. And the two Great-hearts of the httle 
company of Pilgrims, Master Bradford and Miles Standish, were left alone. 


CHAPTER X 


A RED INDIAN VISITOR 


WARDS the end of February it became very clear that they would 



1 have to take some real protective steps and make certain plans that 
they could act upon if they were attacked by Indians, for proofs of their 
presence kept mounting up on every side. One fine day, fine but frosty, young 
John Wharton went out shooting fowl in a little creek about a mile and a half 
from the plantation, and as he crouched there amongst the reeds, he saw com- 
ing by him a dozen Indians, and in the woods he heard the voices of many 
more. The direction that they took was towards the plantation, and natur- 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


51 


ally he felt very alarmed. If he moved, the chances were that he would be 
captured ; if he did not move, the chances were his people would be surprised. 

The boy felt that his duty was clear, and waiting till they had passed 
he tore upwards to the party and gave the alarm. Nothing was seen of them, 
however, though, had they attacked they would have found all the men 
ready for them ; but it was quite clear they had been there, for they made 
a great fire some little distance off. 

Another time. Captain Miles Standish and Francis Cook happened to 
leave their tools in the woods while they went back to get something to eat, 
and when they returned they found the place, but the tools had gone. 

Night after night the smoke of the fires of the encamping Indians were 
seen quite near, and it was evident they had to be prepared for an attack that 
would be silent, swift and surprising. 

So they called a council on the Saturday and chose Master Standish as 
their captain, all of them promising to obey every word of his command. And 
even while the council was being held, suddenly Stephen Wharton lifted up his 
hand and pointed to the top of a near-by hill on which two Indians boldly 
stood and beckoned with their hands. 

Captain Standish and Stephen Hopkins went towards the Indians, only 
one of them carrying a musket, and, as they got nearer he calmly laid his 
musket down upon the ground in the sight of the two watchers, and continued 
beckoning. But the Indians were too timid and disappeared, although the 
noise of a great many more could be heard distinctly behind the hill. 

Captain Standish and Stephen Hopkins returned, and from that day 
forward the thought of the Indians so fastened upon the minds of the party 
that the next three weeks were spent in putting the infant settlement into a 
splendid state of defence. They drew one of their larger cannon up the hill 
that overlooked the settlement, and mounted that and another one that was 
smaller, and they appointed a regular Ust of sentinels, so that by day or by 
night they should be secure from surprise. Every man was always armed, 
no matter what he was doing, and they were all drilled into the various part 
that they were to play in case of an attack 

Three weeks had, however, gone by, and nothing had been heard of the 
expected Indians ; but the whole perpetual worry was beginning to get on their 
nerves, and small wonder either, for they talked Indians, they dreamed Indians, 
and at last they decided to hold another council to determine whether there 
was not some way in which they themselves could get into touch with these 
natives, who, though so invisible, were evidently not very far away. 

It seemed almost as if holding a council brought their dark-skinned friends 
closer to them, for, just as at the council they held before, so now the same 
thing happened again. Right in the very middle of their talk there appeared 
a soUtary Indian, who came along boldly as though he felt that he had 


52 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


nothing to fear, and to their intense surprise he spoke to them, using an 
English word, “ Welcome ! ” 

It turned out that he had picked up some broken English among fisher- 
men' who came sometimes to fish on a distant island, and when he had seen 
the Mayflower in the distance he had taken it for a fishing vessel like those 
that he had known. 

There he stood, a splendid figure of a man, absolutely naked, with the 
exception of a leather about his waist from which a long fringe hung. He was 
tall and straightly built and of a dignified carriage, with hair that was black 
as a raven’s worn very long behind and very short in front ; he seemed as 
they gazed at him to be just the kind of thing that suited the wildness of the 
woods and the vastness of the scene — free and easy in his movements. 

It was amazing news that he had to unfold. And the tale they gathered 
from what he said was this : 

“ The place on which his feet were now standing was called in his tongue 
‘ Patuxet.’ All along the borders of the sea there had dwelt some years 
ago some mighty tribes of Indians who fished the seas and lakes and snared 
the birds and deer and lived happily among themselves, planting the fields 
and reaping them. But the breath of the Great Spirit had blown upon them 
and they had withered like flowers that waited for the sun. Little children, 
women and great braves had gone down at the kiss of His hot breath, and 
the land had none to till it, and the deer multiplied for there were none to snare 
them, and the fish grew bold for they were let alone.” 

Lifting up his hand he counted on his four fingers : 

“ But four of these had gone in the years — when he saw the Children of 
his People become smaller and smaller and lo, they were melting away. Great 
had been the number of the braves, but now they were few indeed.” Then 
waving his hand towards the fields he said, ” These have none to say of them 
* These are mine.’ No, they have gone ! ” And he pointed to the sides. 

” Near unto you are the tribe called the Massasoits, and as near unto you 
on the other side are the Nausites, and these are the people whom ye have 
already seen. They are angry with the English because they had been robbed 
of some of their people, who have been carried away in a ship and they know 
not what has become of them.” 

So the Pilgrims learnt that they had been in danger because of the feud 
that a wicked slaver had brought upon them. Whereupon Master Carver 
dismissed the savage with presents of a knife, a bracelet and a ring, and urged 
him to bring his friends to them that they might hold a talkee-talkee and swear 
eternal peace. And he departed on that business intent. 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


53 


CHAPTER XI 

HARD WORK FOR WOMEN 

I THINK it very likely that some of you by this time are wondering what 
has become of the women and others who were on board the Mayflower. 
My answer is that that is where they were. For during all this business that 
was going on on shore there was also a good deal going on on board. 

You see, that when you are in the midst of danger, as those people were 
on shore, there is a kind of brace-you-up-effect that follows ; and it kept the 
men on shore very much on the alert. But to sit and wait as these women did 
till their husbands had got some place ready for them to go to, that 'was 
quite another thing ; and at the distance from the shore that they were, things 
looked blacker than they did to those who were in the thick of them. Another 
thing that tried them was, that all the nursing that was needed had to be done 
on board, and it was pitiful to see how one after another man, woman and 
child became ill, lay there on the Mayflower for a Uttle, and then quietly died. 



He saw coming by him a dozen Indians. 


54 


TEE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


Yes, during February seventeen of them had passed away ; eight had gone 
in January, and six in December ; so that thirty-one out of the group of one 
hundred had no longer any share in the work, and the remaining sixty-nine 
were creeping about very weakly, and still there seemed to be no certainty 
as to when they could all go to shore. So what with sitting up with the sick 
and watching them pass one by one, and scarcely any change in the monotony 
of their lives, the lot of women like Mistress Wharton and girls hke Exy was 
not a very bright one. 

It would have been still less bright but for the spirits of Exy’s mother. 
She was the one person on board who kept her head. The rest had expected 
such great deliverances ; in fact, they had expected that the Almighty would 
make bare His right arm and do valiant things for them ; but she was not 
one of those who had come out expecting miracles. 

“ No, don’t tell me ! ” she exclaimed, “ all these things that are against 
us are not sent by God. Some of you know your Bibles better than I do, no 
doubt, but I remember that Jesus, when He was on earth, told the stormy 
waves to be still. And it doesn’t seem like to me that the same Being Who 
could still those waves was the same Being Who churned them up. And as 
for all this sickness and death, well, it will take a lot to convince me that that 
comes from God too. Didn’t He tell us by the words of Jesus to ‘ Pray for 
the sick that they might recover ’ ? Didn’t He send His disciples out to ‘ Heal 
the sick and cleanse the leper ’ ? Very well, then, it stands to reason that 
He who wanted to heal the sick didn’t send the sickness. No, I’m not going 
to argue about it. I think it very likely that you all of you know more about 
it than me. I’ve said my say. But I look at these things in the light of 
common sense, and then I rush round and I get busy. It’s more like the 
hand of the Devil is in all this business, and you can tell yourselves what 
you like, but if any one is going to win in this struggle, well, it’s most like to 
be The Almighty. There, Exy, there’s the long boat coming out from the 
shore, and it’s your father’s turn to come on board to-night. I don’t suppose 
John will be with him.” 

When Stephen Wharton came on board with the others, they had a rare 
tale to unfold about the Indian, Samoset, whose appearance we described in 
the last chapter. 

” And, do you really think. Father,” questioned Exy, ” that he will actu- 
ally bring some other Indians back to see the Captain ? ” 

” Well, I hope so ; for the sooner we make a treaty with them, the better 
it will be for all concerned. We simply can’t go on like this. Why, the 
other day I was in the wood and I happened to look up and the wind moved 
the trees ever so slightly, and I thought it was an Indian moved. Why, 
we’re getting nervous of our ovm shadows. But now that the Meeting House 
is up at last we shall be able to get on with the houses, and then there will 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


5b 


be no more of this wretched going backwards and forwards to and from the 
Mayflower ** 

” Will the Mayflower sail away, Father ? Back to England, I mean ? ** 

“ Yes,” grimly. ” I hope so. And I hope there will be some more of 
our friends come out by some other vessel, for we are getting less and less.” 

The terrible uncertainty with regard to the Indians came to the point 
of reahty during the next few days. Suddenly Samoset appeared again, and 
this time he did not come alone. Five other men came with him. Four of 
them were robed in the skin of reindeer hanging from their shoulders, and the 
chief man of the five had a mantle formed of a wild-cat skin hanging from one 
arm as well. Their lower garments were a kind of tight leather stockings that 
widened upwards and fastened at the belt. They were very gipsy-hke in 
appearance and they moved like men who were conscious of their strength. 
In token of their friendship they had left their bows and arrows a quarter of 
a mile from the town, and after they had been bidden welcome they fell to 
right heartily at the meal of the Enghshman. 

Just to please their new friends they sang and danced together, at least 
they thought it dancing, but it was more like the antics of monkeys. It was 
very remarkable that some of them had their faces painted in broad fines from 
the forehead to the chin, which was John Wharton’s first sight of a painted 
Indian. They brought three or four skins with them in order to trade, but 
Governor Carver told them that the day, which was Sunday, was a day that 
they gave over to the Great Spirit ; but if they would bring in more they 
would be pleased to trade with them. The Indians promised that they would 
return within a night or two, and left the skins behind them ; and to the utter 
astonishment of all of them they brought back the tools which they had stolen 
in the woods during the absence of Captain Miles Standish and Francis Cook. 

Then they left. But Samoset seemed to be rather sick, and did not go 
with them, but stayed with the Pilgrims until Wednesday morning, when 
they gave him a hat, a pair of stockings and shoes, a shirt and a piece of cloth, 
and sent him back to know the reason why the Indians had not kept their 
word. 

The very next day Samoset came again and with him another savage 
named Squanto, a native who had been taken captive by a slaver and had 
actually been in England itself and learnt to speak a little more English ; 
these two came with two others, carrying some sldns in order to barter them, 
and some dried fish. 

While they were trading they tried to make clear to us that their great 
chief, Massasoyt, was close at hand, and with, him his brother, Quadequina, 
and all their men ; and after an hour the king and sixty of his men came to 
the top of the hill and stared at them. There they paused and seemed as 
unwilling to come to Governor Carver’s party as they were to go to them. 


56 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


So at last Squanto went again to the chief, who requested that some one should 
be sent to parley with him, and the Pilgrims sent Edward Winslow, who carried 
with him for the chief a pair of knives and a copper chain with a jewel on 
the end of it. He also carried to Quadequina a knife and jewel to hang in 
his ear, a bottle of spirits, and lot of biscuit, and some butter. 

These presents were all willingly accepted, and by means of Squanto, 
Master Edward Winslow made it clear to the chief that the King of England 
wished to be his friend and ally, and that his party behind wished to see him 
and trade with him and to behave to him like neighbours. In the end the 
chief left Master Winslow in the safe keeping of Quadequina, and with some 
twenty men, all unarmed, came towards the party. Captain Miles Standish 
and Stephen Wharton met the chief at the brook with half a dozen musketeers. 
And having saluted him they conducted him to one of the half-finished houses 
which they had carpeted with a green rug and three or four cushions. When 
he had sat down, Governor Carver approached in a kind of procession with 
a drum and trumpet after him and some more musketeers. Stooping low he 
kissed his hand, and the chief kissed him, and they sat down and drank to- 
gether. S o far, all was well ; but it was very evident that while he sat by 
Governor Carver, the poor savage simply trembled with fear. He was a very 
largely built man, very grave in face, and very quiet in speech. A great chain 
of white-bone beads hung about his neck, and from his neck also there hung 
a little bag of tobacco, which he smoked and cast to the Pilgrims. Then the 
Governor began to talk and explain to him the conditions that they wished 
him to agree to in order that there should be peace amongst them ; and as 
there were a lot of words I’ll put them briefly hke your Ten Commandments. 

(i) Thou shalt not hurt any of the Pilgrims. (2) If any of you do, you 
shall deliver up the offender for the Pilgrims to punish. (3) If any of the 
Pilgrims’ tools are stolen, they shall be sent back ; and if any of the Pilgrims 
damage anything of yours, the Pilgrims are to make it good. (4) Thou shalt 
not bring thy bows and arrows when thou dost meet the Pilgrims. They shall 
not bring their muskets when they come to you. (5) If any one wars against 
you, the Pilgrims will help you. If any one wars against the Pilgrims, you 
will help them. (6) You will tell your neighbours that you have agreed to 
all these things with the King of England, and henceforth you call yourself 
his friend. 

While they were discussing these things. Governor Carver noticed that 
the king had hanging from his neck a very keen and long knife. Every now 
and then the chief’s eyes would look with great wonder at The- Mouth- Which- 
Made-A-Great-Noise, meaning the trumpet, and he and some of his men before 
they left tried to sound it as well as they could. 

Then there was more hugging and embracing and the chief departed, 
but the Pilgrims kept several of the natives back as a kind of “ We’ll-make- 


TEE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


67 



Captain Standish and Stephen Wharton interviewed the chief. 


it-certain arrangement that Master Winslow does return.” But presently 
word was brought that Quadequina was coming, and that Master Winslow 
was staying until he returned. This chief’s brother seemed frightened as 
a woman of the guns, and begged that they should be laid aside out of sight. 
The Pilgrims treated Quadequina as they had done the chief, and then he 
returned and Master Winslow was released. Samoset and Squanto remained 
all night with the English, and the chief and all his men remained in the woods 
with their wives and daughters with them, for they proposed that within 
eight or nine days they would come and plant com near by, on the other side 
of the water, and stay there all the summer. A proposal that the Pilgrims 
scarcely liked. 

The next morning, at the invitation of the chief. Captain Standish and 
Stephen Wharton went to see him, and they were welcomed with gifts of nuts 
and some tobacco, and it became quite clear that he was wiUing to be at peace 
with them ; and as they talked they found out why. This chief had a terrible 
enemy, the Narrogansets, who were at war with him, and the one thing 
he longed for was that we would take sides with him against them. 

And so they went their way. 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


is 


CHAPTER XII 

JOHN BILLINGTON’S PUNISHMENT 

I T was now three months since the Pilgrims had begun to land their com- 
pany, and you will easily guess the kind of spirit needed to keep things 
going when I tell you that in addition to all you have seen them pass 
through, that of the one hundred who had sailed scarcely fifty remained. 
Sometimes they had died two and three in the day. 

Now what does this mean ? It means that those who were living and 
already had their hands full in getting up the wooden houses and in bearing 
the anxieties about the Indians, had the far greater labour also of attend- 
ing to the sick, of watching over them as they were dying, and then in bury- 
ing them. The terrible disease called scurvy had attacked them, and it 
attacked the sailors also, so that half of them died too. You must remember 
that although they were able now to get a good deal of wild- fowl to eat, there 
was still many things that they simply had to take off the ship. Their butter 
and their cheese was rotten, and the one cry of their natures was for fresh 
vegetables and fruit. The fruit they would have been able to have got on 
shore had it been the right season ; but it was in the depth of winter. 

I should think that scarcely a dozen escaped, and amongst them was Miles 
Standish, their captain. Master Brewster and John’s father. Somehow all 
that they had to do brought out the strength that was in them, and while 
others perished they escaped. Now, as if Governor Carver and Captain Miles 
Standish did not have enough to put up with, a fresh trouble came upon them 
through the hatred of John Billington. Ever since the flogging of his son, 
because of the mischief that he might have caused on board the ship, this man 
had sneered and jeered at every command of Captain Miles Standish and every 
order of Governor Carver. At first they took no notice, but after a little the 
man grew so bitter that it was evident that something would have to be done. 
Whatever they did, somewhere or other John Billington, or his sons, Francis 
and John, always seemed in the way. 

At length Governor Carver could stand it no more, and he called a 
meeting of all the Pilgrims that remained. 

Apart from the three councils that the men had held to decide what was 
to be done with the Indians, and the other meeting in which they elected 
Master Carver as Governor and Miles Standish as Captain, this was the first 
general meeting to which they had been called. 

With a great deal of curiosity Mistress WTiarton, Exy and John attended. 
They had already left off living on the ship and were doing their best in the 
little wooden hut that had been built for them. It was not much of a house : 
the very windows were pf oiled paper, and over and over again Mistress 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


59 


Wharton sighed for the comforts of the httle cottage she had left at Boston. 
But she never let her man Stephen hear her sigh ; before him, she was always 
bright and merry, and sometimes Stephen, watching her, marvelled in his 
heart. He had expected to find his wife one of his chief difficulties, and he 
was amazed to see how merrily she shouldered not only his burdens, but the 
burdens of the rest. Yes, Mistress Wharton had won for herself a place in 
all their hearts. She nursed the sick, she soothed the dying, and if there were 
any grumblers about they had learned to be in mortal dread of her sharp tongue. 
But little Exy, who watched her mother more closely than her father did. 
sometimes saw that her mother’s eyes were very red, and once she ventured : 

“ Mother ! I do believe you’ve been cr)dng ! ” 

“ Well, a good thing too if I can ! Am I to be the only one in this watery- 
eyed settlement who is not allowed to cry ? A good cry is like a washing-day 
for one’s mind. There, run along and don’t say anything to your father. Men 
don’t understand women. Now, if a man cried, you might think there was 
something amiss ! ” 

Mistress Wharton and John Billington had already had several sharp battles, 
and once she had told him that if she were a man she would show him her 
opinion of him by something else than words ; and Stephen, who had over- 
heard the remark, had smiled and said : “ Hush ! Mistress.” 



“ Mother ! I do believe you've been crying / " said Exy. 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


Governor Carver rose and solemnly addressed the little meeting : 

“ My dear friends, I have called you together because it was from you 
sprang the wish that I should be your Governor, and you all of you promised 
to obey any rules that I thought would be for your good. You also chose 
Miles Standish to be your Captain, which is the same thing as promising to 
obey his orders. From the bottom of my heart I thank you that in the midst 
of many annoyances and discomforts, yes, and even in the midst of terrible 
trials, most of you have kept your word to me and to the Captain. But there 
is one man among you who is the drop of bitterness in the cup that we have 
to drink. I need not tell you his name, for there is only one man among us 
who has hindered, and thwarted, and seemed to make it his business to vex 
all the rest. And I have called this meeting to ask you, who gave me my 
authority and my office, to make up your minds as to what steps shall be taken 
to shame this man into seeing what we think of him.” And he sat down. 

John Billington sprang to his feet in fury. 

I’m not going to sit here and hear myself attacked by this smooth- 
tongued so-called Governor of ours. One would think he was King James 
himself, seeing the airs that he gives himself. I ” 

But Stephen Wharton swiftly rose and said : 

“ Thou hast said it. Friend Billington. No one mentioned thy name, 
but it would seem that the cap fits. And, lest this meeting gets any more 
of this unseemly interruption, I suggest that we take our friend here and lock 
him in a room in the house near by, while we make choice of the means to 
use to bring him to his senses.” 

Governor Carver nodded, and in a twinkling of an eye, though he fought 
and struggled furiously, John Billington found himself carried by two men 
at his feet, and two grasping his arms, and laid, not very gently, in the nearest 
house, and a sentinel set over the door. 

Not to be beaten, John Billington broke the paper windows, and pushing 
his head through began to yell out cries of defiance, which easily reached the 
little assembly. 

With calm dignity Governor Carver said : 

“ The man of whom I spoke is furnishing proof of what I have said of 
the spirit that possesses him, and it is for you, my friends, to make up your 
minds as to what shall be done with him.” 

Mistress Wharton found a way out of the difficulty. 

“ I think,” she said, ” we all of us feel that we don’t want to see the old 
punishments back again. But there must be some way of taking the sting 
out of scornful, scolding fools, and I suggest that Master Billington be sentenced 
to have his neck and heels tied together for as many hours as Master Carver 
thinks fit.” 

The whole assembly agreed to Mistress Wharton’s plan, and, howling 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


61 





Howling with fury, John Billington was dragged out of the house. 

with fury, John Billington was dragged out of the house, flung down on 
the ground, and his hands tied behind him, and then his neck and feet bound 
together with ropes. He was still yelling when they left him, left him there, 
trussed as neatly as any fowl, and he continued to yell defiance for half an 
hour. Then the yells became yelps of pain as cramp began to seize the man. 
But they hardened their hearts against him, till at length Exy could stand 
it no more and crept up to him and said : 

“ Oh, Master Billington, why don’t you tell Master Carver that you are 
sorry ? I’m sure he’d let you go. He’s so kind.” 

” Go and fetch him then,” he exclaimed fiercely. ” Oh ! ” 

Exy ran and fetched Governor Carver, who slowly approached the culprit 
and questioned him, and with all the spirit taken out of him, the man agreed 
to do better in the future. 

And as this was the first offence in that Colony they all consented to forgive 
him. So ended the first punishment in New England. 


62 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


CHAPTER XIII 

THE “MAYFLOWER” LEAVES FOR ENGLAND 

D uring the whole time that the Pilgrims had been settling into their 
new homes there had been a kind of perpetual reminder of the Old 
Country present with them in the shape of the old vessel, the Mayflower, 
which was always in full sight anchored in the bay. 

If things went wrong on shore, they were able for the time being to go 
on board ; and very often it was there they had nursed the sick. But httle 
by little the things that belonged to the Pilgrims had all been moved to land, 
and presently Captain Jones began to talk of getting back to England. 

Every time he mentioned it there was a thrill ran through them all 
at the thought. But there came a day when all who were able gathered 
together on the shore and watched the ship’s boat push off from land for 
its very last journey. They waited as it reached the ship ; they waited 
further as the ship fetched up its anchors ; they waited patiently as the 
Mayflower spread its sails and tacked to the breeze. Then, ah then, there 
was a puff of smoke, as from a gun on board. Captain Jones gave them a fare- 
well salute, and to some of the fearful ones it was the sounding of their death- 
knell ; and fearful or not there were very deep feehngs in all their hearts. 

Captain Miles Standish turned to the group, as the little vessel became a 
vanishing speck in the distance, and the first words he said in husky tones 
were addressed to Governor Carver. 

“I’ve never noticed before, have you, how watching a ship strains the 
eyes and makes them water ? ” 

Governor Carver smiled at him through dim eyes himself. 

” Methinks, that watching any ship would not do it as effectually. Master 
Standish. But yon vessel was the bridge ’twixt England and these shores. 
Without it we had never come, and without it we shall never go. Be not 
ashamed of thy feelings, Master Standish, they are but natural. I share them 
with thee, nor do I think there is one of us who does not. But ” — turning to 
the little company — ” if my eyes are wet with what may seem unmanly 
tears, it is because there is not one of you who, having put his hand to the 
plough, has looked back. Friends, I wondered when it came to the final test 
if any of you would 5deld and then give in. God knows we have very little 
to offer one another here. Nothing but hands grown coarse with toil, make- 
shifts and inconveniences from morning till night. Everything fresh and 
everything strange, and sometimes even dangerous. We are not sure of our 
food ; we are not sure of our health ; and remembering these things, I said 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


6 ^ 


to myself : ‘ If none of them go back when that ship returns, then shall I 
know that every one of you has determined to stay in this place — whatever 
it costs us.' And,” he said, “ Thank God you all stayed.” 

The Pilgrims had listened spellbound at the deep earnestness of their 
Governor, but here Stephen Wharton broke in, exclaiming : ” Better Here 
than There ! ” And there broke from the Pilgrims deep murmurs of assent. 

Then Elder Brewster suddenly said : ” Friends, let us pray ! ” 

And the women bowed their heads, and the men stood in silence, uncovered, 
as the Elder talked to God about themselves and their hopes. 

There have been many strange prayer-meetings held. Whole regiments 
of men have fallen on their knees before the onslaught of battle ; the martyrs 
have prayed aloud as they knelt on the sandy floor of the circus in which they 
were to meet their death, while around them the spectators howled and nearer 
and nearer to them the wild beasts prowled ; the Pilgrims to old Jerusalem 
fell on their knees as they caught sight of the beautiful city of Zion as they 
reached the top of the hills overlooking the city ; and there is no peril, and 
no pain, no suffering that has not forced men on their knees before the Great 
God ; but not one of these scenes matches in its wonder, its beautiful simpli- 
city, this prayer-meeting of the Pilgrims that was held upon the shore. Over 
the seas, over the seas, there lay the Old and the Past ! Above them stretched 
the boundless sky ! Before them rolled the tossing seas, and behind them 
there lay the dim Unknown. 

“ O Lord our God ! ” cried Elder Brewster, “ Thou hast brought us through 
the sea even as Thou didst bring the Children of Israel through the Red Sea ; 
and now, behold us, a mere handful of men and women, and some who are 
scarcely that ! Verily, we are strangers in a strange land, and to-day our 
hearts feel very lonely ! But we are not alone, for Thou, O Father, art with 
us. We are ready for anything that shall come ! All we ask is for some help 
to carry us through just now, till our fields are reaped, and the fruit has grown, 
and we are able to hve on the gifts of Nature. May none of us lose heart ! ” 

And all the Pilgrims cried: “Amen!” 

“ May none of us lose fcdth ! ” 

And all the Pilgrims said: “Amen!” 

That very evening Governor Carver came out of the field feeUng very 
sick, and complained terribly of pains in his head. They did all they 
could for him, but within a few hours he became quite unconscious and never 
said another word, and in a few days afterwards the Colony had lost its first 
Governor. 

The little Colony gave him the grandest funeral they could, and when 
they had buried him in the rude, wooden cofiin, which was the best they could 
make, all the men of the company who had guns, and young John Wharton 
amongst them, fired off a salute to the greatness of the departed man. 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


U 


Then they returned to the colony that would never again see the kindly 
face nor hear the hopeful words of the man who had gone. 

It was not long, however, before they felt the need for choosing another 
Governor, and for some few days the little group discussed nothing else. 

The evehing before the election was to be decided Mistress Wharton was 
talking over the matter by the dim candlelight in their wooden hut, and as 
she and Exy stitched away busily she said to her husband : 

“ It seems to me very strange, Stephen, that you cannot all see that the 
fitting man for the place is Elder Brewster. Is there any man better ? ” 

Ah, mistress ! You have not thought deep enough. Master Brewster 
is to be our leader in rehgious things, and if he were made Governor too, he 
might offend some by what he did as Governor, that would lose him his power 
to help them by what he said from the pulpit.” 

Mistress Wharton dropped her needlework in surprise. This side of things 
had never struck her. 

” I see ! Verily, Stephen, you men are wiser than I thought! ” 

Stephen laughed at the unwilling compliment, and Stephen went on : 

” That is not all, mistress. There might come a time when the Governor 
himself, whoever he was, would perchance wish to do something that was not 
right, according to the commands of God, and then it would be the place of 
the Elder to stand up to him. Governor or no Governor, and tell him the honest 
truth. That is why, though there is no more trustworthy man than Master 
Brewster, we all of us intend to elect Master Bradford as Governor.” 

And the next day elected he was. 


CHAPTER XIV 


M 


JOHN’S ILLNESS 

OTHER!” 

It was Stephen Wharton speaking. He had come in with an 
unusually strained look upon his face. If you could have seen him you would 
have said he looked excited ; and Mistress Wharton knew it too ; for when- 
ever her man called her ” Mother” she knew there was something afoot. 

There was. Throwing himself down on the planks that they had laid 
for a bed, he proceeded to tell her that Governor Bradford was very anxious 
to get a kind of agreement out of Massasoyt, the chief of the Indians ; for 
things had been happening during May and the early part of June that were 
like so many pin-pricks to put up with. 

Since the Indians had lost their fear of the Pilgrims — the fear that was 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


65 


SO strong at first — they had been coming to the Settlement in driblets of two 
and three, eager to get food ; easily and without work. 

Of course, the Pilgrims did not like to refuse ; but, on the other hand, 
they were beginning to feel that they could not afford to do these things. Their 
own stock of food was running low ; but it stood to reason that it would never 
do to let the Indians know it. So, though they begrudged giving them the 
things, they felt it necessary. 

Another thing that Governor Bradford felt sure was going to cause diffi- 
culty, was the fact that the Indians, who loved to go where they could pick 
up a living easily, had been in the habit of coming to the shores of the very 
bay where the Pilgrims had settled, because of the great number of shell-fish 
that were to be found on the beach for the mere picking up. And this 
habit, as they strolled down in the twos and threes, they were trying to begin 
again. 

Now, supposing the Pilgrims had refused to let them gather these crabs 
and lobsters and mussels, it would have made enemies of these natives ; yet 
all the same, if they allowed it, it was a kind of thing that was likely to go 
on and, worse than that, to increase. 

It was clear it would never do to have these curious peering eyes always 
around the Settlement taking in with their take-notice-of-everything-minds 



His mother and Util* Exy nursed him. 


66 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


how much food the Pilgrims had ; how much sickness there was amongst them ; 
and, perhaps, more important than all, how many of the party had died. 

Do you know that as one after the other had died, the Pilgrims, when 
they buried them in the earth were, at first, quite afraid to mark the spot 
either with a mound of earth or with a cross lest the Indians should notice 
how few they were becoming ? 

It was a very awkward state of things, and as Governor Bradford believed 
that the best way to deal with the difficulty was to treat it hke a nettle and 
grasp it firmly, he had made up his mind to take advantage of the fact that 
Squantum, that native who was able to speak a httle English, was staying 
with them ; and to send Squantum over to see Massasoyt and to send with 
him two men of the Pilgrims as ambassadors to talk over all these difficulties, 
and to get certain promises out of Massasoyt. 

Well, the reason that Stephen Wharton was so excited was that he was 
one of the two who were asked by the Governor to go ; and the other was 
Master Edward Winslow. 

Quietly and dehberately he explained all these things to his wife, and she 
— well, she listened with a sinking heart. 

If you could have seen inside Mistress Wharton’s mind, you would have 
seen a number of httle questions springing into hfe one after another. Was 
not this mission more dangerous than any that had been tried as yet ? When 
Master Winslow at the last interview with Massasoyt and Quadequina had 
stayed with the Indians as a hostage till their chiefs returned safely, he, at 
any rate, had not been far away from his friends, but these two were now 
going miles upon miles into the heart of the Indian territory itself. This 
was a very different thing ! Supposing they never came back ? Supposing 
they held them prisoners, and on the strength of their being there felt that 
they could make request to the Pilgrims of whatever they chose ? It would 
be just hke the treachery and cunning of these Indians. Suppose that on their 
way, and, before they could reach Massasoyt and the Indian City, they were 
attacked by some of the Indian natives, who might suspect that the two men 
were coming to make mischief ? Suppose that some of these lions, of whom 
she had heard, and the wild cats, sprang upon them in the woods ? Suppose 
some great storm burst over their heads ? Supposing Squantum turned traitor 
and led them out of the way, and, having let them lose themselves, abandoned 
them ? 

All these questions flitted through the mind of Mistress Wharton ; and 
as they did so those two pink spots on her cheeks, that were the danger signals 
that Stephen Wharton knew so well, made their appearance, so that Stephen 
looked at her anxiously. 

Still, his wife clearly saw that it was a proof of the great confidence that 
Governor Bradford had in her husband, that he should be asked to be one of 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


67 


the two who were to be sent on such an important mission. Someone would 
have to go — that was certain ; some one would have to take the risks, and she 
felt it would be utterly selfish that she should ask that it should be someone 
else’s husband. 

So, though her wife’s heart cried out for her to refuse Stephen permission 
to go, the brave woman crushed down her impulse and simply said : 

“ Stephen, it is a great honour that Governor Bradford has conferred upon 
thee, and if thou canst do anything, then I say — go ! ” 

And Stephen went. 

He had not been gone one day, before a fresh anxiety came into the hut 
of the Whartons. As Mistress Wharton had expected, the weather became 
very severe ; but during a break in one of these storms, John, who had begim 
to learn the habits of the wild fowl in the neighbourhood, crept down into the 
marshes, in the hope of shooting some of them. And while he was there the 
storm burst over them again ; great pieces of hail were hurled from the heavens, 
the wind blew a perfect hurricane, and when, two hours later, her son returned, 
it was a beaten and exhausted and frozen lad that staggered into the hut. 
At first nothing they could do seemed to revive him : the chill appeared to 
have got into his very marrow ; and as he lay there, Ustless and shivering, 
the great longing that filled his mother’s heart was the same longing 
that had filled the hearts of so many during those last terrible months : 
“ Oh, for a doctor ! Oh, for a doctor ! ” For out of all that had risked their 
fives and their future on the Mayflower there was only one of them, Mr. 
Samuel Fuller, who knew anything more than the simplest of remedies. A 
little fact which, if you ponder it, shows perhaps more than anything else 
how determined they had been to go. Nowadays no one dreams of stepping 
on board a finer, even for a short voyage, without a doctor being on board ; 
but these people took risks of fife and limb for always with only a single man 
of medicine being in the company. 

So there John Wharton lay rapidly getting worse, and his mother and 
little Exy nursed him one night and day. 

“ Oh, if Stephen were only here ! ” exclaimed his wife again and again. 
“ Perhaps he would think of something to do.” 

But Stephen Wharton was not there. 

Then it was that in the worry of her little mind, Exy went to Master 
Brewster, and she said : 

” Master Brewster, don’t you think that if you were to ask God very 
particularly, that He would make you think of something that could be done 
for my brother John ? Please, sir, please do ! If something isn’t done quickly 
I know he will die. And Master Samuel Fuller is too sick to move himself.” 

Elder Brewster looked at her, his two kindly eyes soft with sympathy, 
and he said : 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


“ I will wrestle with the Almighty for thy brother. Go home, child, and 
believe that all will be well.” 

Exy went home, and in about an hour Elder Brewster came in, and he 
said to Mistress Wharton : 

“ It has been laid on me to tell thee of a strange cure for a chill that I 
once knew of over in Holland. The man was nearly dead, but they put him 
on a chair, and under the chair they put a pail full of water, and into the water 
they flung red-hot bricks. Meanwhile, they covered the patient with blankets 
that fell right over his shoulders to the ground, and the steam that was made 
by the hot bricks in the water brought on a violent sweat, and it saved the 
man’s life. Why not try it with your John ? ” 

No sooner was it said than it was done. John was tenderly hfted out 
of bed and set in a chair, and a pot containing water was made to steam by 
hot bricks, while he was surrounded by blankets. And even as Elder Brewster 
had said, so it came to pass. The lad broke out into a violent perspiration 
and the chill that was in his bones worked itself out. Then they bundled 
him back on to the mats that covered the plank bed, heaped more blankets 
upon him, and in an hour or so John, who had been in pain from head to foot, 
was sleeping as peacefully as a child ; and when he woke in the morning he 
was very much better. 

But he still lay there very weak, in that low state in which anyone deve- 
lops any mischief that there is about, and next day he was showing signs of 
a violent fever, the very fever that had taken off so many of them ; but his 
mother said to Elder Brewster, who had been in and out, watching over the 
lad hke a father : 

“ Why should not the same thing that brought the chill out of his bones 
bring out the fever ? ” 

Elder Brewster nodded. 

They tried it again, holding the worn-out lad on to the chair, for he was 
too exhausted to sit. Then once more they put him back to bed and sat and 
watched him as the night drew on, and they noticed with great thankfulness 
that he had ceased his babbhngs, for he had been very light-headed ; and 
presently once more he sank into a slumber, but it was so dead that his mother 
wondered several times whether he were hving at all. But as the dawn 
broke, he stirred and opened his eyes, and seeing httle Exy looking at him with 
troubled eyes he said, “I’m afraid I’ve overslept : what time is it ? ” 

Elder Brewster laughed. 

“ The lad will be all right now, methinks. It must be left to thy feeding 
and care to see to it that we have him up in a few days.” 

But two passed : it was four days since Stephen Wharton had gone and 
Mistress Wharton was not the only one who was anxious. Mistress Winslow, 
who had come out with the party as Mistress White, but had been one of those 


THE 70VNG PILGRIMS. 



who had had to bury her first husband and had married Master Winslow when 
he lost his first wife, was simply beside herself with fear. And she ran in and 
out the Wharton’s house for sympathy from the woman who, from her own 
experience, could tell what she was going through. 

“ It was a wicked cruel shame sending them at all ! ” she exclaimed angrily. 

Nay, nay, mistress,” John’s mother answered. “ They are but doing 
their duty, and methinks that if anything has happened to them through the 
Indians it would have happened sooner or later to us all. I am wondering 
myself at their prolonged absence, but as yet I am not worrying. If I were 
to let myself do that, why, I could do nothing else. Run away, mistress, and 
get busy ! Thy man will not come the faster for thy worrying ! ” 

“ Ah, neither will he for my working ! ” snapped the other. 

“No,” answered Mistress "N^arton, ” but it will seem so ! ” And John, 
lying there in bed, for the first time since he was iU, laughed aloud. 

Another day passed and there was beginning to be talk among them all 
of sending others fully armed after them, when just after night had fallen the two 
ambassadors returned with feet that were weary and worn and the look of 


70 


TEE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


men who had stood about all that they could stand, and they were met by 
Governor Bradford, who after a glance at them said with rough kindness : 

“ Friends ! Thy news will keep, good or bad. Go thy ways to thy good 
wives who are counting the hours from thine absence. Go thy ways ! ” 

Over the thresholds of their little huts the men dragged their tired feet, 
and in a minute they were locked in the clinging embraces of their wives. 

Stephen saw the form of his son on the bed and looked inquiringly at 
his wife and she answered : 

“ The lad has almost been on a longer journey than thyself. But he 
is better now, and perhaps thou hast that to tell him that will make him better 
still.” 

“ Ay, I have that ! ” Stephen said heartily. “ I will tell thee to-morrow.” 


CHAPTER XV 

STEPHEN’S STORY 

N OW, what was the story that Stephen Wharton had to tell ? Well, it 
was a story that was one of the most curious mix-ups of surprises and 
shocks and escapes and pluck and persistence and an ancient Indian people 
and an ancient Indian town and an ancient Indian chief. This was the story ! 

It was about nine o’clock in the morning when Master Winslow and 
Stephen Wharton set out to see if they could get into closer touch with Massa- 
soyt, the chief of the Indians. 

” Take it easily. Master Winslow,” suggested Steve Wharton, as he saw 
his companion beginning to walk at express speed by the side of Squantum, 
who was accompanying them as their interpreter. “ There may be a long 
way to go before we reach the goal. Let us start out slow and quicken our 
paces by and by when we have got into a steady swing.” 

So, slowing down, they made their way over hill and dale, through field 
and forest, and at first they did not meet many natives ; but it came to pass, 
presently, almost as if the news of their presence flew before them, that they 
found their way more and more hindered by the troublesome begging of a crowd 
of people that seemed half-starved in the terrible winter season. 

As they journeyed on, Steve noticed that, as far as an Indian scout ever 
can show any sign of feeling at all, that Squantum certainly seemed angry ; for 
he kept going on before them and saying with his eyes and his example, “ Why 
don’t you hurry ? ” At last Stephen laid his hand upon Squantum’ s shoulder 
as if to hinder him, but he turned and said : 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


71 



“ It is far to the place where dwells the great chief Massasoyt ; it is even 
far to the largest place that is closer than that. If my pale-faced friends wish 
to be there before the setting of the winter’s sun, we must take two steps where 
we are now taking one. If not, we shall not see any Place-of-many-men 
before the rising of the sun in the morning. Come, hasten ! ” And they 
hastened, thinking that it would be a short and rapid spurt, for what did all 
these people mean unless the town — or as he called it, the Place-of-many- 
men — was drawing near ? What else could it mean ? Or if it did not 
mean that and these throngs that worried them so were only a kind of fringe, 
what must the garment be hke ? Were they going to put their heads into an 
Indian town, swarming with folk amongst whom they themselves would be 
hke peas in a pod, or were these people around them the greater part of the 
inhabitants they would have to meet ? Which was it ? Ah, they soon learnt 
that they were deceived in thinking it would only be a short road, for they 
covered six miles further before they even caught sight of the “ Place-of-many- 
men ” that was nearest to them. 

Namaschet was the name of the town, and the people flocked out to see 
the Pale-faces and welcomed them with childish glee ; and, just as if they had 
plenty to eat themselves, they placed before the two travellers a meal of 


Tht people flocked out to see the Pale-faces. 


72 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


maize bread and fish and appeared quite pleased that they ate so much 
of it. 

Suddenly one of them approached Squantum, and whispered something 
in his ear and he turned with great dehberation and said, as he pointed to 
the fields that they had sown : 

“ Seed when in ground is very good and makes a meal for my own people 
and for the Pale-faces themselves, unless wicked thief fly away with seed. 
Wicked black thief bird. See ! ” And raising his finger he called their atten- 
tion to the flight of many a cawing crow that was settling on the ground and 
just skimming above it. Then he touched the guns, saying : “ Wicked black 
thief of a bird — see, puf-f-f-f . . . ! Wicked black thief of a bird — ^hear, bang ! ! ! 
Wicked black thief of bird fall down and no more steal. Will my friend do 
this for his friend here ? Will he ? ” 

And thus asked to help them, Edward Winslow and Stephen let fly among 
the wicked black thieves and it soon came to pass that eighty wicked black 
thieves stole no more for ever : and the simple Indians almost worshipped 
their dehverers. 

They felt inchned to stay there for the night, but Squantum seemed rest- 
less and dissatisfied. 

“ The Pale-faces — better move on — move on quick,” he said. “ Big, 
big place — many, much more people — more food ! Nice ! ” 

So, persuaded by him, they decided to go on, tired though they were, and 
about sunset, at a bend in the path by the river, they suddenly came across 
a good many of the natives of Namaschet, who were fishing upon a curi- 
ous kind of pier, which they had carried across the river, and where as 
they stood they seemed to catch abundance of fish. With simple-hearted 
kindness these natives, like the others, offered a very friendly welcome 
and insisted on giving them a share of the fish ; and the two travellers gave 
them in return some of their own food. 

It proved too late to get on any further, so they spent their night in the 
open fields, for there were no houses, and what the natives could do, they 
thought they could. 

The next morning they had another fish and maize breakfast, and when 
they decided to press on, they discovered, to their amazement, that half a 
dozen of the savages insisted on going with them, as a kind of body-guard. 
So on they tramped, these two Pale-faces and seven savages, and when they 
had gone about six miles by the river side they came to a ford, and though it 
was very low water it seemed quite clear that if they were going to cross that 
ford they would have to wade ; and Squantum, sitting down on the ground, made 
a pantomime, as though he were taking off his breeches. The two white men 
took his hint and pulled off their own boots and breeches and began to wade 
through the cold water : — oh, it was cold ! 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 





They let off their guns into the air. 


They had scarcely reached the middle of the ford, before they heard a yell 
from the opposite side of the bank, an unearthly, ear-splitting yell, and 
looking up they saw two rather old natives, who, taking them for enemies, had 
planted themselves there, as the Spartans had done at Marathon, determined 
to defend their country from invasion. But their yell of defiance was answered 
by a series of jabbering cries from Squantum and “ the body-guards,” which 
seemed to reassure them, for they laid down their war-Hke weapons and came 
to meet them, only too delighted to find that they were friends. 

So they journeyed, but as they went it did not need very careful glances 
to notice the many signs all along the river, mile upon mile, that once there 
had been a great many towns there ; and Stephen Wharton turned to Squantum 
and tried to ask him if that had been so. 


74 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


Squantum gravely nodded. 

“Yes, yes ! Many moons ago, many places — much people. Great Spirit 
kissed them all and they die ! Much people go, few peoples left ! ” 

“ Stephen Wharton,” said Edward Winslow, “ it seems a thousand pities 
with such good fields of such good ground that there are so few natives left 
to till them. And wherever we go, just look at the fine trees, just Uke the 
trees in the old ” 

“ Yes,” interrupted Stephen. “ I was just thinking how much hke the 
country is to Old England. I ” 

Here, what he had to say was stopped by one of the natives suddenly giving 
a warning hiss and raising his hand, and the seven savages stopped as still 
as rabbits when they have been startled ; and when they were asked why they 
were afraid, Squantum told them that they fancied they had seen a man of the 
Narragansett tribe, and if so it was a tribe that could not be trusted. 

“ Not safe, not safe ! Bad, wicked mens ! Steal, kill ! Ugh ! Get 
guns ! ” 

So they got their guns ready in case they had to use them ; but when 
they drew nearer to the man they had seen, he proved to be one by himself 
and only two women with him, so the travellers gave each of the women a 
string of beads and went on fearlessly ; and presently they came at last to 
Massasoyt’s town, and there, while they were waiting for Massasoyt, they 
ate some oysters and other fish. 

Messengers having being sent for Massasoyt, Squantum came and whispered : 

“ When Great Chief come, make noise with guns as if Massasoyt — Great 
White Chief ! ” And they understood that Squantum wanted them to salute 
Massasoyt. So one of them began to load up his gun, but immediately the 
women saw it they snatched up their children and hid ; and it was very hard 
work to persuade them to come back again ; and in the midst of the confusion 
they saw stalking towards them Massasoyt himself, and leaping to their feet 
they let off their guns into the air as Squantum had hinted ; and very much 
impressed, Massasoyt welcomed them into his own house. 

“ Ugh, I am glad to welcome my friends, but it is not a short journey from 
the place where they live to the place where I live, and there must have been 
some wind that blew them here. Ugh, why was it ? ” 

This, according to Squantum, was what he said, so they brought out their 
presents — a copper chain, and one of the old Enghsh red-hunting coats, and 
if you had only seen him — ^he was like a young girl with a new frock ! He 
immediately put the coat on his back and hung the chain about his neck and 
strutted up and down in the hut ; and then went outside and walked up and 
down like a tall peacock, so that all the natives might see how grandly he was 
dressed. Then he came back and sat down, and they told him that the presents 
were a sign of friendship ; they were not sent because they feared him, but 


THE YOUNO PILGRIMS. 


75 


because they wanted to show their goodwill. But they went on to say they 
did not want so many of the natives to visit them so often in the Settlement, 
because, until their com grew, they were not able to spare them the food for 
which they came. They also said they would be glad to have some skins to 
buy from him, and they would be glad, at once, to buy some seed-corn. They 
then reminded him of the corn they had borrowed from the graves of his dead 
and offered to pay for it in any way he liked. 

Then he rose in dignified fashion and went outside ; and, presently, all 
the men came rushing together to a great meeting, and Massasoyt made another 
long speech to them.. He was evidently a great speaker. His eyes flashed, 
his hands waved, and his whole body moved excitedly, and if every congre- 
gation in church listened as eagerly as this great meeting did to their chief it 
would be well. Sometimes they applauded him, sometimes they put questions, 
and when the two travellers asked Squantum what he said, it came out that 
he was trying to induce them to sell the skins that they had got through hunt- 
ing to the Pale-faces, and as the result thirty different petty chiefs, who came 
from thirty different towns, agreed. 

Afterwards Massasoyt came back, and lighting some tobacco for them to 
smoke, he began to talk. But as it was late they wanted to rest, so with a 
wave of his hand he pointed to a very long platform in his hut that was made 
of planks raised a foot from the ground with a thin mat spread over them. 
It was evidently his own bed, but they did not wish to deprive him of it, and 
said so to Squantum, offering to go and lie in the open field ; a proposal they 
made quite as much for their own sakes as for the chiefs, for the air in the 
hut was close and stuffy, and the human beings were not the only five things 
there, for they had already begun to scratch themselves busily. 

But Squantum said to them : 

“ Great Chief, he say he give Pale-faces part of his own bed. Massasoyt 
and Squaw will take the top, and Pale-faces and Squantum will sleep at foot.” 

There was nothing for it : they dare not offend the chief, who imagined 
he was doing them a great honour, so there they lay five in a row ! But, pres- 
ently, two other important chiefs raised the mat, walked in, looked at the bed 
and lay down also. So there they lay, seven in a row. 

Even thus, tired out as they were. Master Wharton and Master Winslow 
might have slept, in fact they were just dropping off, when suddenly from 
one of the Indians came a murmur of “ Yah-h-h ! Yow-w-w ! Yee-e-e ! ” 
and the other Indian at his side joined in the chorus ; and presently Squantum 
took it up, and the king and his squaw varied it with perpetual explosions 
of “ Ugh ugh ; ugh Ugh, ugh, ugh Ugh, ugh, ugh Ugh, ugh, ugh 
Ugh, ugh, ugh ; ” — and that was their first lesson in the fact that Indians 
are like children and love to sing themselves to sleep. 

It was all very well for them, but for the two Pale-faces it was torture, 


76 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


and when they rose “ Pale-faces ” they were called, and pale they were. 

The next morning many of the petty chiefs came to see them and tried 
to amuse them by showing them a good many of their games, running, jump- 
ing, shooting with bows and arrows; and with an eye to business. Master 
Winslow offered to shoot at a mark. Guns v. Arrows, and the prizes to be skins. 
But the Indians shook their heads — they were afraid ! 

All this time the two visitors were without food ; for though Massasoyt 
was a king, he could not make food if he had none, and there were empty spaces 
about the travellers’ waists. But about noon, Massasoyt, who had gone out, 
brought back two fish that he had shot with his arrows — two enormous fish; 
and when they were boiled the whole party seemed to expect a share in them, 
and did. So the visitors only got a nibble, and presently they desired Squan- 
tum to tell the chief they would have to be going. 

Massasoyt seemed very sorry to let them go. But they started on their 
way back with the same body-guard, and presently when they reached Nama- 
schet they were able to purchase just a handful of meal and a httle more fish ; 
but they could not be selfish enough to eat it all, so the fish went to the Indians, 
as their share, and they themselves had to be satisfied with a spoonful of the 
meal taken from time to time. 

Still, it had to be ! And that night they reached the first town of all 
to which they had come, before, and, to their delight, two of the natives sud- 
denly got a good haul of fish, so they had a really good fish dinner ; and this 
night they spent again in the open fields ! 

“ This is far better, Master Winslow, than the army that fed upon us 
last night,” said Stephen Wharton. 

” Ay, ay ! I marvel how they stand it ! ” 

But they were not out of their troubles by any means, for about two 
o’clock in the morning, while they were sound asleep, great pieces of hail dashing 
in their faces woke them up, and they found raging round them a wind before 
which they could scarcely keep their feet, rain that soaked them through and 
through, hail that stung their faces like whipcord, hghtning that turned 
night into day in lurid flashes, and thunder that deafened them. 

Feehng it was useless to attempt to rest, they set off walking through 
the storm, and at length they came, after two hours’ weary tramp, to the 
point where their body-guard said that they would all six have to return. So 
they gave them gifts, at least all but one. Utterly disappointed, this man 
strode up to them, and for a few minutes addressed them in a sing-song kind 
of voice ; and, according to the interpreter, he was reciting the long list of what 
he had done for them on the way. This amused them greatly, as he, out of 
the whole six, was the very one who had been rude and sometimes hindered 
them. Still they gave him a trifle ; whereupon, to their amazement, he offered 
them some tobacco. 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


77 


They looked at one another, and before all the crowd which had gathered 
around them they accused him of having stolen the tobacco from themselves 
on the way ; and if that were the tobacco he was offering them, they would 
not take it ; for they knew that, if they reached out their hands to touch any- 
thing that was stolen, their God would be angry with them and destroy them. 

The savage seemed very much confused and humble, and when the party 
came to the river, which had to be crossed, he made signs to Master Winslow 
that he would carry him over on his back. Master Winslow hesitated : how 
was he to know that the savage did not intend to upset him in the river out of 
spite ? But he made up his mind to trust him, and when this poor Child of 
Nature landed him safely and dry upon the opposite bank, he began to under- 
stand that this was his way of saying he was sorry. Then it was that they 
pressed onward by themselves in the terrible storm, and bit by bit reached 
the Settlement, as we have seen, and utterly worn out, stumbled into their 
domes. 



Sxy laid htr hand M'pon his sleevt. 


78 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


CHAPTER XVI 

A BOY MISSING ! 

T he spirit of the father is the spirit of his boy ! 

So it came to pass, that as it was with John Billington the father, 
so was it with John Billington the son. Surly, conceited, self-opinionated, 
obstinate in carrying out those opinions, young John Billington was a chip 
of the old block. Already, as we have seen, he had been flogged for his 
stupidity on board the Mayflower. You would have thought that would have 
taught him a lesson, would you not ? But the only lesson it seemed to have 
taught him, and his father, and his brother, was to take his own way deceit- 
fully, when he could not get it openly ; and to be spiteful to every ’one who 
made it necessary. So, although Governor Bradford had warned anyone 
against going into the woods unless they were one of a party, young John took 
it into his head to disobey, and one day towards the end of August he suddenly 
vanished from the Settlement, and simply disappeared. 

Now, although the people in the Settlement naturally disliked John 
BiUington very much indeed, yet, a father who is frantic at the loss of a son 
must be a real object of pity. And this man, generally so haughty, broke 
down utterly, and cried like a baby. 

“ He will be soaked ! ” he sobbed. “ He will perish with cold ! The 
wild cats will get him ! The Indians will take him prisoner, and unknown 
to us they will torture him ! Woe is the day I ever left England and brought 
my boys here ! There has been a curse on us and on the whole party ever 
since we came.” 

Exy and John were standing near him as the frantic man poured out 
his thoughtless and bitter words, and timidly laying her hand upon his sleeve 
Exy said : 

” Oh, Master Billington, that is not true. We have all of us had wonder- 
ful escapes, and if Jack has gone into the woods God will take care of him.” 
And John, in spite of his dislike of the man before him, ventured to add : 
” Governor Bradford is going to send the shallop along the shore to see 
if any of us can find the boy. I have asked him to let me go with him, and 
Squantum and his friend Tokamah will go too.” 

A gleam of hope lit up the face of John Bilhngton, and dashing away 
his petulant tears roughly with his hands he sprang to his feet to go in the 
boat with them ; and in another half an hour the shallop was afloat. 

It was a fine day when they set off, but they had not been long at sea 
before a terrible storm broke over their heads, and as if the storm were not 
bad enough, suddenly the very bravest of them was scared by the sight of 
a great waterspout that burst quite near them, spra5dng upwards from the 
sea to a tremendous height. It was the first time that any of them had heard 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


79 


of such a thing, let alone had seen it, and the very terror of the unknown got 
hold upon them. But fortunately it did not last long, and in the dark and 
murk of the storm they decided to put in on shore that night for harbour. 
But as they came in towards shore they found the storm abate and anchored 
the little vessel in the midst of the bay and spent the night on her. 

Their anxiety about the boy proved a very good alarum clock, and they 
were all awake very early in the morning ; but early as it was they noticed 
savages already on shore looking for lobsters, and they sent their two native 
interpreters to speak to them. 

Squantum said to these savages in his native tongue, that they had no need 
to be afraid, for these men were from the Settlement and had only come to 
look for a little Pale-face. 

They brightened up at this, and answered that they had seen the boy 
Pale-face, and that he had gone to Nauset ; but as that was some distance 
they asked them to land from the boat and eat. And the whole six went 
ashore. 

They had scarcely landed before the petty chief, a young man of about 
twenty-five, came to see them, and welcome them, and as far as he was able 
he gave them hospitality. 

But while they were speaking to him a strange thing happened. An old 
native woman approached with a forehead and face wrinkled and lined with 
hundreds of lines, who looked quite a hundred years old, and she peered with 
her dim eyes at the visitors very eagerly. Then she laid her hand on John 
Wharton’s shoulder and burst into a passion of tears, crying and screaming : 

“ What is the meaning of this ? ” said Stephen Wharton to Squantum, 
and Squantum began to jabber to her and, angrily enough, she jabbered back. 
Then Squantum turned to the rest and holding up his three fingers, said : 

“ Old squaw say she once have three sons, hke him ’' — pointing to John 
Wharton — “ and when bad, wicked English were here with ship to make trade, 
he took them from her. Old squaw never saw no more, and now old squaw 
no sons — ^no one at all — to care for her. Old squaw wants him,” — pointing 
to John again, — “ to take their place, work for her, and find her food.” 

This was the native’s rough and ready idea of justice, and it was some 
time before Stephen Wharton could make her understand, through Squantum, 
that to rob him of his son, John, would not make right the horrible theft from 
which she had suffered. From her point of view she would only have been 
taking one boy, while the wretched slaver had taken three. But in the end, 
by giving her several small presents, they managed to quiet her down. 

After dinner, with the young chief accompanying them and two of his 
men, they set off again, but Nauset was a long way to go, and night was coming 
on again, and the water was so shallow that they were not able to carry their 
shallop up the reach. 


10 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


The savages came thronging around them very thickly and begged them 
to bring in the boat to the shore ; but Stephen Wharton was afraid of treachery, 
and although the boat ran aground they still kept on guard, and sent Squantum 
to the chief of Nauset to ask him to return the boy ; and about sunset, the 
great chief of Nauset came with a great train of followers, and brought the 
boy back, — one of them carrying the boy through the water. 

It appeared that the young idiot had actually wandered on for five whole 
days, hving on berries, and then had stumbled on an Indian encampment, 
who sent him to the people at NauSet. 

In the most handsome way they had decorated the boy with strings of 
beads, and Stephen Wharton showed their appreciation by the gift of a knife 
to the chief and another knife to the petty chief of the Indians who had saved 
the boy and brought him to Nauset. 

Immediately the boat of the settlers had pushed off, John Wharton, who 
had grown to be able to read Squantum’ s face pretty well, through constantly 
watching him, noticed that he looked very grave — unusually grave, — and 
asked him what was the matter, and presently Squantum said : 

“ Quarrel ! Muchee quarrel ! Massasoyt have men taken by Great 
Chief Narragansetts. They taken Massasoyt too ! Massasoyt people make 
war — get chief back ! Will Pale-faces do anything ? ” 

As they hstened, the men in the boat grew alarmed, because they were 
afraid they would be drawn into this and the little Colony was so weak, for 
while it numbered about fifty, there were only nineteen men. So, fearful 
that an attack might have been made on the plantation in their absence, they 
tried their hardest to reach home quickly ; but it seemed that everything was 
against them, and once more they had to anchor in the httle bay, and spend 
the night there. But next morning, having gained water from the young 
chief, and received a present of a bracelet from him, they put forth again, and 
that night they arrived safely home. 

As soon as the shallop landed its passengers there was a cry of “ Have 
you found him ? Have you ? ” And the answer appeared in the shape of 
young John himself, who leaped to shore proud as a peacock because for 
once he had won such notice. And the people were so glad to have him back 
that they never said one word of reproach, and of course young John himself 
never said one word of apology ; for it was a strange thing that the Billingtons 
never seemed able to see that they were in the wrong ! 

Next morning, however, there was no time to think about Jack or his 
adventures ; for the more pressing necessity was to answer the question as to 
what was to be done by them so as to keep their friendly chief, Massasoyt, in 
power. 

It was quite clear to them that if they allowed the Narragansetts to over- 
corn® the Massasoits that all the trouble that they had taken before would 









y 




% 










fp 

tv}V A, 







TBE YOVNO PILGRIMS. 


81 



go for nothing. Yes, it would be in vain that they had made that long journey 
to get the treaty ; and as for the treaty itself, it would be so much waste paper. 

But what could they do, they were so few in number ? True, they were 
better armed than the Indians, and that would count for much, but it would 
not balance everything. Even if they made up their minds to put a bold 
front on and go to the Narragansetts with a high hand, their minds would 
be racked all the time with anxiety as to what was happening behind them, 
for these Indians were such clever scouts and seemed to have such wonderful 
ways of imparting information to one another, that as soon as the men had 
left the Settlement it was quite hkely that the news would spread and before 
they themselves had gone very far into the woods the Indians would be on to 
their wives and children and calmly massacre them. Or, on the other hand, 
even if they were in the camp of the Settlement themselves it was quite open 
to the cunning natives to swoop down on them with swift surprise and kill 
the lot before they could arm and get at their guns. Ah, it was clear that 
the men — at any rate while this kind of thing lasted — ^would have even to 
sleep with their arms by their sides. 

“ Shall we never, never be free from the scare of these savages ? ” Mis- 
tress Wharton exclaimed bitterly to her husband that morning at breakfast. 

And her husband answered her quite calmly : 


He stumbled on an Indian encampment. 


82 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


” Never ! That is never until we have made it clear to them that it is 
good for theiTiselves to be at peace with us. At present they are hke so many 
children, who see that we have many things that they covet, and if they could 
get the things by getting rid of us they would not have two thoughts about it.” 

It was not very long before they held a Council and determined what 
was to be done. As there were so few really able and responsible persons left, 
the women shared in the Council, and Mistress Wharton, seeing that their 
difficulty in making up their minds arose because of their fear of leaving herself 
and the others undefended, rose and said : 

” Masters and friends, it seemeth to me that in this country to which we 
have come, there ought to be no talk of men and of women. Surely we are 
all one ! It has not been the lot of women to fight, for the simple reason that 
we have never had to do it. But, methinks, that if my husband or any one 
else’s husband will but teach us to shoot it will go hard with any Indian who 
showed his nose in our camp in your absence. There is nothing for it ! No- 
thing ! And I propose that Master Captain Standish shall instruct us all as 
if we were men. But meanwhile, as that would take time, the best thing to 
do is to divide the score of men that we have and to let ten go — if it turns 
out right that they should, and the other nine stay. But before that is done 
why not let Squantum — whose face I never like to see about the place 
and who has been idling here the last two days — why not let him go and find 
out if the report about Massasoyt be true ? My woman’s wit tells me that 
the report may pnly have been spread so that you maybe tempted away from 
the Settlement, and while you go they may come themselves and as they say 
eat their enemies up. Better be sure ! Better be sure ! ” 

And with that she sat down and the men looked at one another in surprise. 
They saw that she was right, and they decided very quickly that they 
would send Squantum to make inquiries and only act when they had been 
made. So into the forest, gliding like a moving shadow, Squantum vanished, 
and his friend Tokamah with him. 

” Ugh ! ” exclaimed Mistress Wharton, when she heard that her advice 
had been speedily acted upon. ” I could wish that he should never return. 
There is something about him that I can never trust ! ” 

” Silence, mistress ! ” cried her husband. ” He has proved a good friend 
to us. What should we have done without his help as an interpreter ? Massa- 
soyt would not have made that treaty with us ; and who knows that we should 
not all of us have been in our graves by now ? ” 

She looked at him calmly and smiled. 

“Well, well, they who live the longest will see the most.” 

“ But, mother,” interrupted Exy, “ don't you think it is just the feeling 
that we all have towards men of colour like Squanto ? He made me feel like 
being near a snake the first time that I spoke to him.” 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


83 


“ My dear,” said her father, “ that is a feeling that we must all of us get 
over, and the sooner the better. I have felt like it myself, but as we are out 
here to spread the great truth of the love of God among these poor Indians, 
we are not likely to do it unless we can crush down such feelings as these.” 

And they waited to hear the news. 

Meanwhile it is high time that we had a peep into what this life was mean- 
ing for Mistress Wharton and the rest of the women. 

I think I can bring it home to you if I remind you of the kind of thing 
that you have to put up with when you have moved from one place into another 
— before you get straight. You remember what a muddle it is ! Nothing handy 
that you want ; — day after day a constant making shift ! That is what their 
life was and had been ever since they came on shore. There was everything 
to do that always has to be done in every house : — there was also a great 
deal to be done besides. I wonder what some of the modem girls would 
have made of the lot of little Exy Wharton ? But Exy and her mother 
were on the very border-line of necessity ; they hved from hand to mouth ; 
they worked with their hands from morning till night. In their little hut 
so many things had to be stowed away that would be needed again before 
the night. The cooking and the washing had to be done in the one living 
room, or else outside the door, even as the Israelites and gypsies cooked and 



Th$re was a rush to gather round him. 


84 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


washed in the open. If it were a smoky fire, owing to the wind, their misery 
was all the greater : then the water in the cauldron would not boil, because 
the wind blew away the heat. Yes, the Ufe was one long putting up with 
things ; and never forget, that if this settlement of a few people afterwards 
developed into the United States and so became a great nation, the credit 
does not belong to the Pilgrim Fathers alone, it belongs to those Pilgrim 
Mothers and Pilgrim Daughters. 


CHAPTER XVII 


MORE TROUBLE WITH THE REDS 


HE days passed, and they waited and waited for Squantum, but he never 



1 came. The men looked at one another anxiously, and all the things 
that they thought they did not dare to say. Only from the mere fact that 
they were very careful to double their precautions and to keep a strict watch 
every night it was very clear to the women that they felt they had need. Once 
Stephen Wharton sprang up in the middle of the night and reached out for 
his gun, just as a half-awake fireman will reach for his helmet and clothes. 
There was no cause, there was nothing happening, but the anxious mind of 
the man was stirring even in his sleep, and as with him so it was with the rest. 
Anything would be better than this ! Oh, if only some news would come ! 

It was several days later that word was brought to them by Hobbamock, 
a friend of Squantum, and immediately on his appearance there was a rush 
to gather round him and to listen to his news. This was what he said : 

“ All true — the Pale-faces heard. Great chief Massasoyt — taken Nar- 
ragansett — bad wicked men ! Coubatant — Uttle chief — think himself great — 
but only little — ^nothing at all — Mouse, httle mouse, under great chief Massa- 
soyt, made friends with Narragansett ; want Massasoyt’s place himself. Mouse 
like to be lion ! So he blow himself out and say to people of Massasoyt, ‘ Me 
big. Big as Massasoyt. Bigger ! Me not afraid of Pale-faces. Me eat them 
up ! And he strutted up and down imitating Coubatant’ s manner. “ Then 
he say, ‘ What good the promises made to Pale-faces ? No good at all. No, 
take no notice ! Better be friends with Narragansetts — Narragansetts, many ! 
— Pale-faces,' few ! As for Squantum, friend of the Pale-faces — Bah ! ! ! '” 
And the gesture of disdain that Coubatant was supposed to make made them 
all smile. “ He say, ‘ all the work of Squantum ! He and Tokamah and friend 
have come in secret to find out. Shall we let them go back. Never ! ’ And 
he come to the house and he set many at the door and there we stay.” — And 
with a shrug of his shoulders — “ Had to. Ugh ! Then he come and he take 
knife and hold it at Squantum’ s neck, but me being strong me struggle and 
at last me get out and then Hobbamock come to the Pale-faces quick to tell 
them story. What will the Pale-faces do ? Squantum he die, perhaps I ” 



THE TOUm FILQRIMM. 


Thty fluttg back th» mats and entered. 

From Hobbamock’s story they gathered that a petty chief, named 
Coubatant, belonging to the tribe of the Massasoits, had turned friendly to 
the Narragansetts, thinking that they would help him to be chief of the 
Massasoits in the place of the captive chief, whom they had taken ; and that 
he had boasted against the Pale-faces and said that he would not be friends 
with them as Massasoyt had ; treaty or no treaty ; and as for Squantum 
and Tokamah and his friend Hobbamock, he had taken them prisoners and 
kept them, threatening the life of Squantum, whom he said was the cause of 
all the mischief ; and they would have known nothing about it had not 
Hobbamock escaped. 

It was pitiful to see the confidence that Hobbamock seemed to show in the 
white men as they stood around him, and he kept repeating to Captain Miles 
Standish and Governor Bradford, “ WTiat will Pale-faces do ? ” 

Then said Captain Miles Standish : 

“ Next sun-rising, O Hobbamock, I will take ten men with me and the 
thunder and the lightning sticks and we will go with you to Namaschet and 


86 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


I will talk to Coubatant. If he has killed Squantum he shall die himself, and 
if he has not I will know why he talks of the Pale-faces as if they were mice 
and he was a great man. And when we are there we will take some little chief of 
the Narragansetts and we will keep him until we know what the Narragansetts 
mean to do unto our great friend Massasoyt. If not then the thunder and 
the lightning shall speak and there will be some children of thy people gathered 
to their fathers. Even as in the days of the great death so shall it be again.” 

And as Hobbamock heard he shivered ; but drawing himself up with great 
dignity he said : ” The Captain of the Pale-faces has spoken and it is well. 
He not like Coubatant — all talk and little mouse. Let us come ! ” 

It was a terribly wet day, but for that reason they felt it was all the safer ; 
for in the mist and murk they were less likely to be discovered, and when they 
came about three miles off Namaschet they deliberately went out of their 
way and stayed in the fields till midnight lest they should be noticed in 
order to give their visit the quality of a surprise. 

Then in the dead of the night they crept towards the town where the 
Indians were sleeping peacefully ; and Hobbamock showed them the house, 
and suddenly in that place of slumber there was a great shout — the roar of 
stentorian British voices. 

“ Coubatant ! Coubatant ! Are you there ! ” And then in the Indian 
tongue Hobbamock took up the shout and called tauntingly to Coubatant to 
come out and eat up the Pale-faces as he had said. But there was no Couba- 
tant to reply. 

Then they flung back the mats and entered into the house, and Hobbamock 
demanded to know where the chief — the boaster — was. But, paralyzed with 
fright, there was not an Indian who could find his tongue. 

Then, at the command of Captain Standish, Hobbamock told them why 
they had come, and if Squantum were still alive it would be well ; but if not 
they would take their revenge on those who slew him ; but he let them know 
that in no case they would hurt the women and the children. 

There was a good deal of talking after this with the Indians who had come 
rushing out, awakened by the noise ; and it turned out that after all Squantum 
was still ahve and in the town, and they swarmed round the British, who pres- 
ently let off a couple of their guns. In a moment they were like a crowd of 
scurrying rabbits, and to the great amusement of the visitors, Indian boys, 
having heard the words of Hobbamock that women would not be injured, 
cried, “ Neen squaes ! Neen squaes ! ” — ” I am a woman ! I am a woman ! ” 

But Hobbamock, at the request of Captain Standish, quelled the riotous 
noise and made a fire for them to sit by and also that there might be fight 
enough to search the place in which they were staying, for as yet the whole 
attack on the Indian house had been made by the flickering fight of smoky 
torches : but the most diligent search failed to reveal any sign of Coubatant. 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


87 


At sunrise they bestirred themselves to find the house in which Squantum 
was supposed to be staying, and going there to breakfast there they found 
him, and while they were questioning him the house was surrounded with a 
crowd of savages, who came in not only from Namaschet but the surrounding 
villages, and they were all quaking with fright. 

Squantum said quietly to Captain Standish. 

“ If the great Captain will speak to them may bring good. Men no like 
storm — glad when over. Speak to them the good words and their hearts that 
are hke angry sea will be hke waters of little lake when no breeze.” 

So going to the entrance of the house in which Squantum resided the 
Captain hfted up his voice and shouted ; for Squantum had said, “ Make great 
noise first as if angry, then talk like squaw to her papoose.” And he did ! 
He roared and shouted and they wailed and moaned. He shook his fists and 
they ran with terror ; he seized his gun and they scuttled. Then he handed 
his gun to Squantum before them all and beckoned and they came back tremb- 
hng. And never mother reasoned with her children more gently than he. 
He flung out his arms in entreaty, he laid his hand upon the shoulder of one 
trembhng wretch ; and then he called on Squantum to translate into the 
language of the people of his tribe, and stood at his side while he said it. 

Young John Wharton, who was one of the ten men who had come, watched 
Squantum’ s face as he dehvered the oration. And as he listened he did not 
quite hke it. He was getting used to these Red Indians, and especially getting 
used to the play of Squantum’ s face and voice. And it seemed to him that 
whatever Squantum was saying that he took a tremendous time to say it and 
that there was a great deal of Squantum in it. 

Yes, there was no doubt about it, Squantum was enjoying himself. If 
there is one thing in which the average Indian simply dehghts it is making 
a speech. And when did an Indian get such a background ? There he stood 
— a man of some great importance — the mouthpiece of the Pale-faces, and 
before him waiting upon his words were the Children of his People. So he 
folded his arms and talked down at them with infinite scorn in his tones. Then 
he flung out his hands, then folded his arms upon his chest again. Then there 
was a dramatic pause of silence. And the people were moved, ah, they were ! 
Once more he went at it, tapping his own chest in unmistakable manner ; 
and they nodded emphatically, and presently one of the Indians crept near 
and kissed his moccasins, as though in token of submission. 

” It is what the Pale-faces call ‘ all right,’ ” said the savage, “and the hearts 
of my people are feeling tender towards the Pale-faces. Squantum has told 
them that though silly chief Coubatant get away now, the skies could not 
hide him from the Pale-face and he was good as dead. There was no rock 
into which he could creep, for the Pale-faces would make it fall upon him and 
bury him. For it was out of the wicked heart of Coubatant the boaster that 


88 


THE YOVNO PILGRIMS. 


this thing had come to pass. And Squantum also told the Children of his 
People that unless Massasoyt be brought back from bad, wicked Narragansett, 
there no more peace for Coubatant nor for Namaschet. And Squantum say 
more than this — (“ Yes, you did,” thought young John, a great deal more about 
yourself and your own importance ”) — “ he say that in any of the moons to come 
if Coubatant show the black heart to the Pale-faces or to Massasoyt, their 
great friend, or to Squantum their brother, or to any of the people of the Massa- 
soits, then there would be war, war, War ! ” 

“ And you think that they understood ? ” 

Squantum gravely nodded and Captain Miles Standish went out to the 
door and before them all he reached out a hand to one of them in token of 
their friendship. Then there were delighted cries and one of the elder men 
advanced and made a speech that sounded as the running out of water from 
his lips, while his eyes looked like a dog’s that had been whipped. 

“ What says he ? ” demanded Captain Standish. 

** He promise that all that the will of the great Captain commands shall 
be done and that the Narragansett s shall be told, and if they do not send the 
great Massasoyt back he and his people will let Pale-faces know that they 
may make war upon the Narragansetts and chastise them with their thunder 
and their lightning.” 

” Ay, that we will ! So, as that’s settled for the present, let us be going ! ” 
” Captain Standish, we may well be grave,” answered John Wharton, 
as they went homewards and Miles Standish had jokingly slapped him on 
the shoulder cr5dng, ” Why so grave, lad ? ” 

The captain paused in his swing forward and said anxiously : ” Didst 
notice anything ? I saw that thou wert very silent. What is it, lad ? ” 
And the ” lad ” answered, ” I did not like the way that that Squantum 
made so much of his own share in the matter. Did you not see that one of 
them kissed the shoe on his foot in token of his submission ? Besides, I have 
watched his face and there are times when he sits with flashing eyes and 
heaving chest, and I believe in his heart there is room for another Coubatant.” 

” Tut, tut, lad. Be not suspicious. We can’t do without him. But 
were I as young as thou I would lay my ears to the wind to learn their lingo 
and give myself no rest till I could speak it ; for there is a great deal in what 
you say, that we are really in the power of any rascally interpreter who may 
make use of us for his own miserable plans. Try it on, lad, try ! ” 

CHAPTER XVIII 

THE FIRST HARVEST ! 

I T was two or three weeks after the return from Namaschet. 

The time of harvest had gradually approached. Even in England 
it would bavo been a season beautiful for the autumn tints of the trees and 


THE TOUN& PILGRIMS. 


89 


the glorious moonlit nights, but here in New Plymouth there was a scene of 
marvellous splendour. Night after night the view of Plymouth Sound as 
it was bathed in silver light was almost dazzling. During the day the 
wondrous woods and far-reaching forests had robed themselves in cloth of 
gold — ^red gold ! And the Settlers, tired as they were with their day’s work, 
felt constrained to visit the woods in the evening, and at night to climb the 
hill from whence they could see the moonht bay. 

It was on one of these nights that John Wharton was preparing for a mid- 
night ramble on the shore, catching eels, by resting in their little hut after 
a day’s work in the fields, when Exy burst in, crying : “ Oh, John, please 
do come out with Mary Chilton and me. We’re going to the hill to see the 
bay. But it’s getting so late, we don’t like to go alone.” 

” It’s all very well after a hard day’s work in the fields ! ” John grumbled, 
rising very unwilhngly ; and Exy, who was a little angel, when there was trouble 
about, but a veritable little spit-fire when things were going in an ordinary 
way, flushed up and said, sharplj^ : 

” And haven’t I been doing a hard day’s work out of the fields ? Who 
did the washing I should like to know ? Who cooked those fowls you shot 
yesterday ? Wasn’t I up as soon as you ? If you don’t like to come, I’ll 
go alone with Mary, and I’ll tell her you’re too lazy to come, so there I ” 



John and his oomponion provided food for the company. 


90 


TEE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


“ ‘ Too lazy ! ’ — I like that, considering I’m going out snaring eels to-night, 
when you’ll be fast asleep. Anyway, I’ll come. Perhaps it wiU wake me up.” 
And, shpping on his cap, the tall young giant strode through the door to her, 
and a little way up the tiny street they found Mary Chilton waiting. 

” That’s right, John ! ” Mary said, heartily. “ I know you must be 
tired ; but the hill is really well worth a visit. I went a few nights ago, and 
the marvellous beauty of the scene was so great, that I could scarcely sleep 
for the memory of it, and do you know I had such a strange dream that night. 
I dreamt that while I stood looking, there came over the sea an unknown ship, 
and it brought to us a number of new men and women. I can see their faces 
quite plainly even now.” 

“No fear of that ! ” cried John. ” The only ones that would be likely 
at all to come would be those we left behind, at Plymouth, who should have 
come with us in the Mayflower ; but if they were too timid then, it isn’t common 
sense to beheve that they would have found courage now. And as for others. 
I don’t suppose we shall ever get any visitors from the Old Country here.” 

They strode along, climbing the hill to the top with rapid pace, the pace 
of three young people full of spring and energy ; but when they reached the 
top of the hill they found there a solitary figure wrapped in his cloak, and 
with his head covered with a wide-brimmed hat, and they knew that their 
much-loved governor — Governor Bradford — had felt moved to come and gaze 
on the shining, silver sea, even as they had. 

John raised his finger warningly and they crept up behind him ; for 
Governor Bradford was standing wrapt in thought, and murmuring to himself. 
Here and there they caught a word : “ Harvest ” — ” The very first.” — ” God 
be praised.” 

Then John coughed, and with a start, the Governor turned and saw them. 

” Ah, young people ! You ought to be in your beds ! But I do not 
wonder ! I was tempted myself ! But,” stretching out his hand towards 
the sea — ” did ye ever see the like ? It is as if the moon were sending silvern 
messages to the Earth and the Ocean. Can ye not hear what it says ? ‘ I rise, 
I wane ! The years may come and years may go, but I shine on for ever.’ ” 

There was silence for a few moments, then — was it that somehow the 
thoughts that had been in the older man’s mind influenced John’s as he spoke 
— anyway, John said, with great dehberation : 

” One wonders what that moon will shine on a hundred years hence ! ” 

Governor Bradford looked at him strangely. 

” The very thing I was thinking of, John. Yon is the Harvest-Moon ! 
And it is shining on the first fields ripe unto the harvest that have ever been 
sown here by white hands. And as I looked at our fields to-day — twenty-six 
acres of com and six acres of barley that have sprung from our sowing in 
the spring, I wondered if all the rest that we were sowing, by our presence here, 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


91 


is going to 5neld as fine a harvest of its kind, by and by ? Do ye follow me ? ” 

“Yes, indeed. Master Bradford ! ” sprang from Mary Chilton. “ And, 
oh, I’m sure it will ! I see your meaning, and even as the grain multiplies 
from the seed, each stalk 5delding a great increase, so I feel sure it will be with 
us. This sea before us shall be covered with our shipping, the harvest of that 
single shallop down there t This tiny street through which we chmbed shall 
reach on right through the lands ; and in the future there shall be villages 
and towns and cities, and the busy hum of the people’s voices shall be heard. 
The harvest of the few who came and hved here first.’’ 

She lifted her face, so full of passionate purpose, and the light from the 
moon bathed it, and it seemed as it were the face of an angel. 

“ May it be so ! ’’ quoth Governor Bradford, “ May it be so I " 

Then John broke in, with all a youth’s impatience : 

“ This is all very fine ; but. Master Bradford, I must be getting back, 
for I have promised to go down snaring eels by the Reach, and, methinks, the 
eels will be better food than dreams and visions of the future.” 

“ Nay, nay, John ! ” said Governor Bradford. “ Some visions of the 
future would help men and women, even if they could catch no eels, and had 
no food.” Then, reverently, “ It was said of one such that ‘ for the joy that 
was set before Him He endured the cross,’ and if it had not been for the hope 
of the future, and our behef in a joy that lay before us, neither I nor your 
father, nor you, would have been on this hill to-night. But,” dropping into 
an ordinary tone, “ let us go down, and while these girls dream dreams and 
see visions you shall snare eels for my breakfast. And,” laughing, “ mind, 
if you don’t bring me some, I shall be disappointed, for I love stewed eels.” 

He had his way, for next morning John and his friends had gathered in 
a single night a whole hogshead full of eels. 

This was but one specimen of the easy way in which some of the best 
things of life were now coming to the Settlers. Even in spite of their trouble 
with the Indians they had managed to set twenty acres with Indian com, and 
six acres of barley, and peas in the spring ; and it looked as if, when they 
gathered the harvest, they would find plenty of provision for their daily bread, 
at any rate in the winter that was before them. 

As regards other things, they were simply around them in positive pro- 
fusion. John and his companions would go out any morning, and with 
their guns easily kill as many fowls as would last the little company nearly 
a week. All the summer through the shores of the bay were simply full of 
lobsters that had only to be picked up, and fresh cod could always be had for 
the catching; and as for shell fish, such as mussels, they lay at their 
very doors. Right through the season white and red grapes could be had 
for the picking, strawberries, gooseberries, raspberries, and plums of many 
sorts ; and an abundance of roses, white, red and damask. 


91 


THE TOUNH EILORIMM. 


The efforts of the men who had gone out to Nanaoscbet had been crowned 
with success. There was no doubt that their determined journey to the Indian 
town had smitten their enemies with fear, and the land now had rest for a time. 
Massasoyt was returned to his subjects ; and as a friend of the Pale-faces, his 
authority seemed to be doubled, so that everything he said was obeyed. This 
state of things gave the Settlers time to get on with their other real work, which 
was to lay the foundations of their future life by hard work in the fields. More- 
over, as an expression of his gratitude and the good feeling of the Indians, 
presents of deer sometimes came from Massasoyt and his people, and these 
filled the larders of the women in the Settlement for a time. 

So the outlook was very bright ! It seemed quite certain that the hard- 
ships of the past winter would never again be repeated. The hard work of 
the women and the girls in their homes had piled up a goodly array of stewed 
jams and preserves. Some of the food had been salted down, and also some 
of the fish ; so it looked as if there would be plenty, and more than plenty, 
of food for the men and women and children of the Settlement, who now 
numbered less than fifty. 

They had taken time by the forelock, and piled up a splendid provision 
of wood-fuel for the coming winter. Great rows of neatly-cut logs were packed 
in stacks, and near them piles of brushwood. Every dwelling had its own 
pile in the little yard that had been placed at its side. They had managed 
to erect seven such dwellings and four others near their cornfields, and beside 
all this there was a larger common Meeting House. 

It was a wonderful few months’ work, and it had been carried on under 
terrible conditions. They knew well enough the meaning of the words — 
Foes without, and Fears within,” but they had turned the foes into friends, 
and their fears were becoming a memory. The beautiful summer and clear, 
bracing air had given them all splendid health. True they had had to work 
hard and very hard indeed. But what did it matter ? 'S^at does the hard 
work that you do in the gynmasium matter ? Why, it only strengthens your 
whole body and hardens your body, and so it was with them. There was not 
a man amongst them who was not the better for his coming. 

Some of you girls have possibly been feeling pity for little Exy and the 
rest of the girls and women, because of all the toil that they had to go through 
— gardening ; field work ; house-work ; washing and cooking ; mending and 
making ; and above all things — making shift. But what did it matter ? — 
They all of them looked as though they had been away for a long holiday. 
There was a spring in their movements, a brightness in their eyes, and a flush 
upon their cheeks that told of real happiness and health. 

So it was no wonder, was it, that they all looked forward to spending the 
next year under far happier conditions then they had the first ? 

But . . . ! Ah, there was a ” but ” I 


THE YOVm PILGRIMS. 


9S 



V-" 


UmrvttHnf m $he 


CHAPTER XIX 

NEWCOMERS AHOY ! 

D uring the weeks that followed all hands were busy harvesting in the 
fields. And they brought in their grain with the songs and shoutings 
and joy always associated with Harvest Home. But as they were stacking 
it, Mistress Wharton observed to Governor Bradford : 

If we were in the Old Home in England next Sabbath we should be 
holding a Harvest Festival ; and some of the dames of the district would be 
decorating.” 

” Ay,” he said, looking thoughtful. 

Then suddenly he turned to Master Brewster, exclaiming : 

** How does it seem to thee, friend ? We want no Popish practices here, 
but it seemeth to me that there is good sound Scripture warrant for holding 
such a service as this.” 


94 


THM YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


“ * Thanksgiving ’ if you like, friend, and the more the better, but no 
decorating ! ” And he shook his head gravely. 

Mistress Wharton smiled. 

“ Well, then, why not have a special Sabbath of Thanksgiving, and — 
see here. Master Bradford, you know we had hard work to hide every sign 
that we were badly off from our Indian friends — so why not invite them to 
a feast and show them how well we can treat them ? ” 

Stephen Wharton raised his hands as though to stop his wife’s outpour- 
ings, but Governor Bradford smiled, sa5dng : 

“ Stephen, let thy wife speak. If anyone has earned the right she has. 
Verily I beheve that out of us all she has been the only one who has never been 
heard to utter a grumble. Why, Master Wharton, what we should have done 
without thy wife at our bedsides, and cheering us on, and,” with a twinkle 
in his eyes, “ sometimes whipping us on with her sharp words, I do not 
know.” 

A murmur of approval broke from the rest, and Mistress Wharton stood 
there looking hke a blushing girl. But Governor Bradford continued : 

” And while we are speaking of thy wife. Friend Stephen, let me add 
one word about thy son, John. He has been a pattern to any youth who may 
some day come to this Settlement. And I need not say any more when I say 
that in the eyes of us all he has proved himself a man.” 

Stephen Wharton looked at his son with a proud glance. The boy had 
been a positive marvel to him ever since he came out, and to hear his praises 
and those of his wife was sweet indeed ; especially as he knew that it was 
no compliment but that every word was deserved. But while he only looked 
his pleasure, a Httle crowd led by Captain Miles Standish gave a loud cheer, 
aU except the Bilhngtons who stood there frowning. 

John shuffled his feet nervously, and then blurted out : 

” But even now. Master Bradford, thou hast not said what has to be 
done about the Thanksgiving ? ” 

” Ay, ay ! ” he smiled, seeing the boy’s trick to get rid of the awkward 
praise. ” Ay, ay ! And if you all agree, it had better be as Mistress Wharton 
says.” 

So they smartened up the little Settlement to look its very best. They 
hoisted the Standard they had brought. They placed their grain where it 
could be easily seen, and then they despatched Squantum with their invitation 
to their Indian friends. 

Would they come ? Rather ! Why, before the end of the week, Massa- 
soyt appeared with ninety followers — a tall order for the little Settlement — 
but they managed to feast them for three days. 

One great event that occurred at the feast was the signing of a document 
promising obedience to the King of England by nine of the chiefs, amidst the 


TBE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


95 


roll of the drums and the firing of their pieces, a ceremony that greatly im- 
pressed the chiefs. 

Then at the end of the three days they held a Thanksgiving Service, and 
the appearance of these bare-headed men and kneeling women, bowing before 
the Out-of- Sight Spirit, impressed these savages still more. But on the Sabbath, 
after they had gone, they all met together in the common Meeting House for 
their own real personal Thanksgiving, and Elder Brewster gave to them all a 
very straight talk. 

He first of all addressed the elderly men, bidding them remember that 
they were by their labours and sacrifices laying a foundation for their children 
to enjoy. “You will never live to see it, but there are some standing here 
who will look back to your names as the names of those who took the first steps 
and made the first plans and bore the first hardships ; and who were so strong 
in your faith, that you brought even your children out with you to share in 
the Future — that Future in which you believed.” 

Then he turned to the women. “ It has been a marvel to me the way in 
which you have all gone through. Had we been without you we should have 
given up long since, of that I am certain, and it will be sometime yet before 
you are able to have an easier time. But the easier time will come to yours 
when you are old. You will have sown and they will reap. 



Thtre came a messenger in great haste to Governor Bradford. 


THE yotJNO PILGRIMS. 


“ But,” turning to the younger ones, ” it is to you especially that I would 
speak. The future of this place will one day be in your hands. When it is, 
remember your fathers and why they came here. Over the seas there are 
other youngsters, who will grow up with no thought except to eat and to drink, 
and when work is done to rise up and play ; and so they will spend their lives 
as boys and girls and then as men and women — men and women, who in this 
great world simply do not count, only as one of a crowd, only as one of a crowd ! 
But it will not be so with you. Each of you has an important part to play. 
You are helping to start a New Country, and I say to you, it is a grander thing 
than playing games at home ; or than serving out an apprenticeship at home. 
Be glad that it has fallen to your lot ! And in everything you do, and by 
everything you do, show that you are proud of a chance that so seldom comes 
to any lads or lasses.” 

And as John and Exy listened their colour came, as their hearts beat 
rapidly with the proud knowledge that they were two at least of the younger 
race who were actually founding A New World. Till then the hfe in this 
place, to John, had simply been one of glorious adventure, and boy-hke, he 
had loved the dangers for their own sake. He had taken the work as play 
— ^it was dehghttul work in the open air — there had been constant change in 
it ; but now, he suddenly begun to see the great purpose behind it all, and 
it was a much greater lad stepped out of the Meeting House than the one who 
had stepped in. 

As for Exy, she had always been so busy that she had been content to 
get through the needlework and other work as best she could, so long as it 
was done ; but on the morrow the girl put real care into it, for, without telhng, 
she began to see that any habit of carelessness that she allowed would make 
others careless too ; so, as far as she could manage it, this girl, who was still 
in her teens, determined that New Plymouth should have the best needlework, 
the best cooking, and the best washing that she could do. 

So the first Harvest Thanksgiving passed. And in supreme content 
they awaited the coming winter, piling up the firs and skins that they had 
been able to purchase from the Indians against that day, when some ship 
might call and carry them away back to England, as their first piece of 
trading. 

These were their plans, but in November there happened unto them 
the thing that scattered all their plans like so much chafi before the winds, 
and brought them face to face with hardship again. 

This was the thing ! 

One morning there came a messenger in great haste to Governor Bradford 
— ^an Indian, who was almost spent with his running towards them ; for rightly 
or wrongly his chief had thought it important that the Settlers should know 
that there was a ship beating up against the wind around Cape Cod. 


• . ^ 


k 




• \ 
y’ . 






1 


« 

4 





% 


s 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


97 



The cannon was discharged with a great noise. 


They took the native into a house to give him some food and drink, and 
while some of them looked after his needs, the rest who were at home 
speedily climbed to the flagstaff at the top of the hill and proceeded to watch 
the bay. 

Presently they caught sight of a ship, and Governor Bradford observed : 

“ It is a pity that we have not one sailor amongst us. If we had he could 
tell us by the very rig of the boat to what nation she belongs ; but as it is — 
well, it may be a Frenchman for aught I know ! I cannot see how we could 
expect to hear from England so soon. It was April when the Mayflower left, 
and it is a little over six months. It is almost certain that the people on that 
ship are not our friends.” ^ 

They watched her as she weathered Cape Cod, they watched her to see 
if she were merely out of her reckoning, and would go by, or steer further out 
to sea ; but presently the purpose of those on board to turn into the bay became 

G 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


SO clear that the Governor determined to take instant action. Whereupon, 
as had been arranged, the great piece of cannon that was on the hill was loaded 
and discharged with a great noise ; and over the fields rang the echoes of the 
first alarm-gun that the workers had ever heard, caUing them home ! 

And they came ! Leaving everything that they were at, the few men 
and boys came rushing in, and the women gathered around, full of anxiety. 
The guns were all loaded and the muzzles of their bigger cannon were turned 
towards the shore, and they stood there ready. 

Would she be an enemy, or would she prove a friend ? 

** There’s one thing,” growled Captain Miles Standish, ” if the folk on 
board that vessel are French, they shall never land here till a few of them at 
any rate have bitten the dust, or rather the sand.” 

They watched the ship anxiously intent, and presently she cast anchor, 
and a long boat pushed off from her containing a few men. Then, seeing how 
few they were, the men of the Settlement made their way towards the beach, 
still carr5dng their arms, and there on the beach they met the strangers, and 
presently a rousing cheer from the shore, carried by the wind to the Beacon 
Hill, showed the anxious watchers that they had turned out to be friends ; 
and they crowded down to welcome them. 

There they were twenty-seven men, one boy and one woman, and many 
of them were not even strangers. Elder Brewster beamed with delight when 
he saw his son Jonathan and Edward Winslow when he saw his brother John. 
There were the Cushmans and several others, who had originally intended 
coming out in the Mayflower, but owing to the unseaworthiness of the Speedwell 
had been left behind at Plymouth. The woman, who was a widow, named 
Ford, whose husband had intended saihng with the rest, but had died before 
he could do so, had determined with great daring to carry out her husband’s 
plans for herself and her children, and so had brought the three, William and 
John and Martha with her ; and there were many others. And so at one 
sweep the Settlement had nearly doubled itself, and doubled its needs. 

CHAPTER XX 

MORE HARDSHIPS 

” f^XY,wilt thou please take these to thy good mother. Mistress Wharton, and 
ask her if she will perhaps look at these, and when she has some leisure 
minutes try and mend them for me.” The speaker was Stephen Dean, one of 
the many men who had recently come in the good ship Fortune, and as he 
spoke he handed to Exy a parcel of clothes to take to her mother. 

Exy took the parcel, but it was clear by her manner that she did it un- 
willingly, and, speaking very scornfully : 

” '\^en ‘ she has some leisure minutes,’ Master Dean, I should just 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


like to know whenever that is ! ” And she walked off with the whole of her 
httle body stiff with indignation, and her little head held very high in the 
air ; while Stephen Dean looked after her and smiled ; for during the three 
weeks that he and the other newcomers had been in the Settlement they had 
not come to understand what work their coming had brought to the women. 

When Exy reached home, she was in a temper. Yes, there was no doubt 
about that — a real temper ; and she flung the things down saying ; 

“ There, Mother : Master Stephen Dean seems to think you have so 
httle to do, that he sends you these to mend in your ‘ leisure minutes.’ ” 

Mistress Wharton was standing in the httle room talking to Mistress Wins- 
low and Mary Chilton, and as Exy spoke, with the sharp ring of temper in 
her tone, she looked up impatiently, and then turned very angrily to the others: 

“ This must be stopped ! Yes, we women must stop it ! I suppose I 
had not enough to do, and you had not enough to do, but these thirty new- 
comers must ask us to cook for them, and wash for them, and now, forsooth, 
we are to be expected to mend for them. From dawn to sunset we slave and 
slave ; and who amongst all of us minded it, when it was for our own men 
and our own boys, but I say this is too much ! Yes, I say it is too much ! ” 
“You may well say that. Mistress Wharton,” said Mary Chilton, very 
gently. “ But I really do not think that the men have taken the smallest 
thought as to what the coming of all these strangers means to us. If they 
had brought with them half a dozen more women and girls, even then that 
would have meant five men apiece for each of them to have looked after ; but 
there was only the Widow Ford, and she had enough to do to look after her 
baby and her three other children. So, of course, it has to fall upon us.” 

“ But it shall not fall upon us ! ” exclaimed Mistress Winslow, — “ and 
I think the best thing we can do is to take the bull by the horns and go at 
once and see Governor Bradford about it. And ” — this with her cheeks flaming 
in such a way that it told of the anger that she felt inside — “ we will call on 
the other women and get them to come with us. Come along ! ” 

And, dashing out of the house, she was followed by the other two women 
and Exy, and there on the floor they left the unfortunate parcel of clothing which 
had been the cause of this outbreak of temper. But, after aU, it was only the spcirk 
that fired a train of discontented gunpowder that had been l3dng there during 
the last three weeks ; for these poor women already had had more than enough 
to bear and to do. Imagine, if you can, some of you children, who belong 
to a large family — large enough to keep your mother and your sisters as busy 
as bees — that your father suddenly had plumped down upon him, or rather, 
plumped down upon them, a number of poor relatives, who seemed to take 
it for granted that they would be made welcome and looked after; — then 
just what they would feel was what these women and girls felt. 

They went along the little street, beckoning the women out of the seven 


ipo 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


houses, and when they had explained what they wanted them for, the little 
group of angry women marched up to Governor Bradford. 

Mistress Wharton was the spokeswoman, she always was, and she poured 
out a torr^t of angry words : 

“ Are we beasts of burden ! Are we pack-horses ? Are we to be turned 
into squaws Uke these poor Red Indian women ? Are we the only ones in the 
Settlement who are never supposed to rest ? Do you expect us to work our 
fmg«rs to the bone, till we drop at our work and leave you men widowed, with- 
out anyone to help you ? Are we ” 

Governor Bradford looked at the faces of the women before him in sheer 
amaze ! It had all come so suddenly. Manlike, he and the rest of the men 
had never given a thought to all that the coming of these thirty strangers must 
mean to the girls and the women. He had noticed the eager welcome that 
had been given them all ; for in their delight at seeing people from the Old 
Country, they had aU of them made much of the new arrivals ; feasted them, 
put themselves out to find them beds and bedding ; turned the common Meeting 
House into a sleeping place for them, and left nothing undone that they could 
think of, to show how pleased they were to see them. Yes, even the sailors 
who had brought them in the Fortune had shared in aU the good things they 
could give them. But this, — this was quite another side to the matter ! So, 
raising his hand, he interrupted the flowing torrentof Mistress Wharton’s words: 

“ Stay, Mistress ! I am verily afraid that we men have been blind as 

bats. I am sorry that we have never thought of it ! We ” 

Ah, that is just hke you men,” Mistress Wharton broke in. ” So long 
as you get your food cooked and your washing done and your mending, it 
never occurs to you to ask how ? Not that we should mind it for our own. 
We are only too glad to be able to ease somewhat of the terrible burdens that 
have fallen upon you ; and as Master Brewster said in his fine sermon at the 
Harvest Thanksgiving, we mothers expect by the toil of our hands some day 
to make it easier for our children. But when on the top of all this, and the 
care of our own children, we women are expected to do the washing and the 
mending for thirty more men, then I tell you. Master Bradford, it can’t be 
done. No,” — suUenly — “ it can’t be done.” 

Suddenly Master Bradford broke into one of his rare smiles. 

“ In good faith ” he said, “ it seemeth to me that no one can help you 
out of the difficulty but your own selves. Come now, don’t you see, you will 
have to teach these poor ignorant men how to thread a needle ; and I hope 
they will be better hands at it than I have ever been — and you will have to 
give them lessons in stitching, and felting, and hemming — yea, and in darn- 
ing ; so that they can mend for themselves. But, methinks, that if they are 
no apter pupils than I should be, it will take you more time to teach them 
than to do it yourselves. Of course, as for the washing, that ought to be an 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


,101 


easy task for any man to do.” — ^This with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. 
“ There is nothing in washing ! ” 

“ Oh, isn’t there ? ” snapped Mistress Winslow. “You just try a day 
at it, sir ! ” And all the women laughed. 

“ And what about the wringing the clothes out, and the drying, and the 
ironing, and the starching — ^what about that, Master Bradford ? ” Mary Chil- 
ton suggested merrily. 

“ Well, well ! that is just what I said. Verily you will have to teach 
them; though, candidly, I can’t picture Captain Miles Standish and some of 
the rest of us wringing out clothes and pegging them up on the hne and then 
stooping over the table to dandle the iron. I fancy I can see Stephen Wharton 
and some of the newcomers holding their irons against their cheeks to see if 
it will be too hot and will scorch the clothes.” And he shook with laughter 
at the picture, and the women laughed too with him. 

“ But,” he went on, “ as for the cooking I am afraid that no amount of 
teaching will help us to do that properly, though it is true that sailors become 
wonderfully skilled at even that. WeU, well ! — That is all I can suggest, and 
we must throw ourselves upon your tender mercies for instruction, and during 
the winter which is on us now perhaps you will all of you give us poor un- 
knowing men some lessons in needlework and the other things. What a pity 



Mistress Wharton was the spokeswoman. 



102 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


it is that someone has not invented a kind of clothes that never need washing 
and that will not wear out. Perhaps some day some clever man or woman 
will think of a wringing and washing machine. There, good wives and maidens, 
go back to your homes, and I will talk it over with the men.” 

But as they turned to go, laughing at one another, a strange look crossed 
his face and, suddenly raising his voice, he called aloud — 

“ Stay ! ” And wondering what he wanted further with them they returned. 

He regarded them very earnestly for a moment or two, and then : 

“ I am wondering whether I shall be able to look to you all to help me 
out of my present and future anxieties. I fear me very much that all we have 
passed through will be as nothing to that I shall have to ask you all to go 
through this winter.” 

They stared at him breathlessly, and Mistress Wharton at last exclaimed, 
” What do you mean,, Master Bradford ? ” 

And then he answered sadly enough : 

” It seems pretty likely that this winter there will be a great shortage.” 

” Why, it was only at Harvest that we were all praising, praising God 
for the opposite.” 

Ay,” he said, “ay, there was plenty of food then for all the mouths that 
we had to fill ; but there are thirty-five more now. Think of it, thirty-five 
more now, and — Men — men with men’s appetites, who will have to do 
men’s work. And then there are the children with the appetites of growing 
children : what of them ? ” 

They looked at one another in dismay, and Exy reached out her hand 
and caught hold of her mother’s. Was it possible, was it really true that this 
winter was going to be as bad as last, yes and even worse ? and the silence 
that had stolen over the little group remained unbroken ; for when a trouble 
is a real trouble^ — it is too bad for words ! 

Then, at last, with a deep sigh. Mistress Wharton said : 

” I see now what you mean. Master Bradford. You mean, that you will 
have to put us all on rations. Lively looking future, isn’t it ? ” Then she 
broke out in a perfect passion : “ Why should it be ? Why should my Steve 
and my John and my little Exy here, who went through last winter’s hard- 
ships, have to go through them all again and worse. I beheve, yes I beheve, 
that it must have been a planned thing. Nothing ever went right with us 
from the beginning. There was something in me that always made me doubt 
Master Jones, who brought us over in the Mayflower. There was something 
shifty about the look of the man’s eyes ! Then there was the breakdown of 
the Speedwell] I thought it was very cleverly managed. But I said nothing 
at the time ; for it dawned on me that the fewer who went with us, the 
fewer there would be to share in the food if we ran short ; and, more than that, 
it helped us to get rid of the Faint-hearts. But now, it seemeth that most 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


103 


of them have come out by the Fortune, and not a man-jack of them has had 
the simple sense to bring food with them. And,” raising her finger and point- 
ing at Governor Bradford, she suddenly cried : ” And what about those sailors ? 
Will you give them food for their voyage when they' go back next week ? ” 
Governor Bradford nodded gravely. 

She flung out both her hands in an angry manner. 

“ Then, I say, it must have been a planned thing ! No one will ever make 
me believe that all those men, to say nothing of the women and the children, 
would set out on a long voyage with only just sufficient to last them for the 
time. Master Bradford, you mark my words, we have enemies over there in 
England ; they want to see our Colony ruined, and if they canT do it by fair 
means they will do it by foul. They mean to hit us hard and they have ! ” 
Governor Bradford had listened without a word. The fact was that 
everything she said was something that he had already thought. It looked 
so very like it. But, putting the best face on things that he could, he answered : 

“ All that you say. Mistress Wharton, may be perfectly true. Sometimes 
I am inclined to think it myself. But, even then, what are we to do ? It 
may have been planned by our enemies over yonder, but I do not believe that 
these men who have come to us, men like your husband’s brother John ” — turn- 
ing to Mistress Winslow — ” knew anything at all about it. And, neither do 
I think that the sailors knew. If there has been a plot, they are as much the 
victims as we shall be. No, there will be nothing for it but for us all to share 
and share alike, and if we can drag on through the winter, by the time the 
spring comes, there may be fish and fowl enough about. Only I look to you 
women to help us and to try and keep up the hearts of your husbands and sons 
as we go through with it. But, I pray you remember, that all the time there 
will be one heart aching for you, yes, for everyone of you, and that heart will 
be mine. May God bless you all ! and may He give you grace to go through ! ” 
And as they went he called after them ; 

“ Don't forget those sewing lessons ! ” 


CHAPTER XXI 

GOING THROUGH WITH IT 

G overnor Bradford had prayed when the women left his presence, 
that the grace of God might be with them to help them get through ; 
and they needed it ; for after the Fortune had sailed away there began a most 
trying time for all of them. 

If it was not one thing, it was another ! "When the meals were served and 
the people sat down to eat, made hungry by the keen, bracing air, there was 
not enough to eat, and Exy had to watch her mother, lest when they were 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


not looking, she managed to put some of the food that was her share on to 
the plate of John, or her husband, or on Exy’s own. 

“No, mother ! If we go short, we must share and share alike ! 

But the meals were not the only thing every night there was the make- 
shift with the sleeping. All the seven little houses were overcrowded ! This 
made it awkward every time, for the men’s beds had to be made up some- 
where ; and those of the women and girls in some other part of the house. 
— All this every night, and in the morning there was all the awkwardness about 
washing ! 

Then the terrible winds made the wood fires smoke and the little rooms 
in their tiny houses were filled with it. The windows were not like yours that 
could be opened to let it out. There was no glass in them, and for lack of glass 
the window-panes were made of sheets of paper that had been soaked in lin- 
seed-oil. So there was nothing for it but to have the doors of the houses open. 
And though it let the smoke out the cold came in. In the midst of all this 
discomfort the washing had to be done ; and the cooking ; and it was useless 
trying to do it outside the houses, as they could have done in the spring and 
summer-time. So it went on, manage and shift, shift and manage — over- 
crowded, underfed ; inconvenienced ; ill ; and worse than aU, ill-tempered. 
For who could go through all this without getting cross and snappy ? 

But, after a little, that common-sense woman. Mistress Wharton, began 
to see this would never do ; and she went to Governor Bradford and told him 
that he ought to get the young men out to drill and practise shooting. 

“ Besides,” she said, “ I don’t think it would hurt any of us if we had a 
little fun. I am sure it would do the children all the good in the world if we 
had some games ; and I am not sure that the grown-up children would not 
be all the better if we met together to sing a bit. At present, what with the 
men cutting the timber in the woods, and sawing it into planks, and building 
the fresh houses all day long ; and what with all that we women and girls 
have to put up with, it is all work, work, work, morning, noon and night. And 
all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy ! ” 

Governor Bradford smiled ; he was getting used to interference ; but 
there was just one person whose interference he did not mind, and that was 
Mistress Wharton ; for she was not one of those people who go about point- 
ing out what won’t do ; she was always ready to suggest something that would. 

So he took her advice, and the youngsters had some good old-fashioned 
romps and the older people gathered together in the evenings, in the common 
Meeting House ; and the men’s beds were all piled into a corner, while the 
men and the women in the other part sang together some of the grand old 
hymns and psalms that put heart into them. 

But for the fun of the children’s games ; and the races that the young 
men and the girls ran and the leap-frog at which the young men played, and 


THE YOVm PILGRIMS, 


105 



It was a rattlesnake’s skin and inside it a bundle of arrows. 


the singing at nights, I really do not believe that they would have been able 
to get through. The pin-pricks of their daily lives would have smarted too 
much ; but gathering together put heart into them, and kept it there. 

And it was just as well, for a fresh anxiety arose amongst them now owing 
to the Indians. 

Two months of this hard life had been dragged through, when about mid- 
day, Tokomahon, the Indian, who was a friend of Squanto the interpreter, 
came into the Settlement, and with him there was another Indian, a stranger ; 
and it turned out he had come from the Narragansetts. Yes, he had come 
on a special errand too, and he had brought with him a strange present. It 
was a rattlesnake’s skin and inside it wrapped up a bundle of new arrows. 

Governor Bradford and Captain Miles Standish looked at it but did not 
know what to make of it ; so, in order to find out, the Captain took charge 
of the strange Indian until Squanto should return. 

At first the stranger so trembled with fear that he would say nothing ; 
but by degrees Captain Standish managed to puzzle out from the broken 
English of Tokomahon that the stranger had been sent to say that his master 
Conanacus, the great king of the Narragansetts, intended to war upon them. 

This news naturally filled them all with worry ; for the Narragansetts 


106 


THE YOVm PtLGniM^. 


were a great people ; and it seemed as if war were in the air, for news had 
already reached the Settlement that it was common talk among the Indians 
of the great preparations that were being made by this tribe. 

Well, of course, this rattlesnake, stuffed with arrows, seemed to point out 
that the gossip they had heard was very likely correct, in which case, they 
were doing wrong to keep the savage stranger any longer ; for it was quite 
clear he had been sent as a kind of ambassador ; and as you know, it is against 
the law of every nation to take prisoner anyone who is in that position. 

So Captain Standish made up his mind to let him go, but when he did 
so, he said in the presence of Tokomahon : 

“ Go back to your master and say we have heard of his many growlings ; 
and inside our hearts we have growled back again. Tell him that we do not 
mind what he does, or what he does not ; but if he does not lie down with his 
neighbours like a lamb, he will find a lion will come down and lie near him ; 
— and the lion will be the English people, and they will eat him up.” 

So the Indian went away ; and he had not long been gone, when Squanto 
returned, and as soon as they showed him the rattlesnake's skin stuffed with 
arrows, he declared at once that that was the way in which one Indian chief 
usually challenged another to \mr. 

“ We'U ‘ war ' him ! ” exclaimed Governor Bradford, and he took the 
rattlesnake's skin and filled it with gun-powder and shot, and calling Tokoma- 
hon, he sent him back with it with this message: 

“ The chief of the English Pale-faces sends this to the chief of the Narra- 
gansetts and weighs his threats as lighter than a grain of dust. The Narra- 
gansett chief says that he will come and make war upon the wigwams of the 
Pale-faces ; but the Pale-faced chief would not wait for him to come, if he 
had only ships enough to come to him, as he will have soon ; but if the little 
chief of the Narragansett likes to keep his word he will never come unwel- 
come or find the Pale-face not ready for him.'' 

What he said, and how he said it, none of them were ever able to find 
out ; but the result was certain — the great king of the Narragansetts worked 
himself up into a perfect panic. As soon as he saw the rattlesnake's skin, 
stuffed with powder and shot, he simply would not touch it, and commanded 
his people to take it out of his house, for he trembled at its very presence. 
Was there one of them bold enough to take it up ? Not at first ! But presently 
one plucked up enough courage to touch it with his finger, and finding it did 
not kill him, he lifted it up with his hands, but very timidly ; and so it was 
passed from hand to hand and place to place for a long time ; and at length 
it actually came back to the Settlement just exactly as they sent it out. 

But meanwhile, as soon as they had sent their messenger forth. Captain 
Miles Standish asked Governor Bradford to call a meeting of the men, and 
when they were gathered together he looked at the crowd that the fifty men 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


107 


in the Settlement now made, and he felt quite proud of his little army. This 
was a very different thing to the nineteen men, who had been all that he could 
count on before. And even nine of those he would have had to leave behind 
to defend the Settlement. Then, facing them, he said : 

My friends, I am no hand at making a speech, so to be blunt and to the 
point ! — We have heard that we are threatened by an invasion of the Red 
savages. It may come to nothing. In good faith I hope it won’t. But whether 
or not, the thing we have to do is to be ready for them. I don’t think we are 
— but I know we have to be. We must lose no time. Out with your axes ! 
Cut down more timber ! Get to work with your saws, and cut the wood into 
long palings with sharp points. And in a few days at the most let me see a 
ring of wooden fencing right round our little Settlement, with gates in it.” 

The men caught his spirit, and they worked with a will. For days nothing 
was heard but the sounds of a timber yard, and in about a fortnight the wooden 
palisading was up ; and the men were divided into four companies of ten each, 
with one set over each to have command ; and greatly to his delight, young 
as he was, John Wharton was appointed to take charge of one, on the ground 
that he had already seen a good deal of Indian fighting. Then Captain Stan- 
dish gave them orders that at any alarm they were to gather in their tens to 
the leaders to their appointed place behind the fence, and after that to do 



He told Captain Standish what he thought. 


108 


TUB YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


as they were told. They drilled at this day after, day until they were perfect. 

But one day, while they were drilling, John suddenly thought to himself 
that it was just possible that by cunning some Indian might creep into the 
Settlement and hide, and set fire to one or more of the houses. Then, of course, 
everybody would rush to put out the fire, and the Indians who had crept 
through the grass up to the fence would be able to take them by surprise. 

He told Captain Standish of what he thought, and as the Captain looked 
at the little street of houses with their thatched roofs he felt sure that John 
had imagined the very thing that might be likely to happen. So, calling aU 
the men together, he commanded them that if they ever saw fire suddenly 
appearing in the Settlement, they should at once take to their arms. 

But the days went on, and though they drilled and waited and watched 
and slept with one ear open, and took turns in doing sentry duty, nothing 
happened ; and presently they began to think that nothing would. So, when 
the month of February had passed and no attack had been made, they remem- 
bered they had promised to go to an Indian encampment up the river and 
get furs by trading for them, and they began to get the shallop ready for the 
voyage; but, seeing this, a friendly Indian, called Hobbamock, who often 
came to the Settlement, and stopped, told them that he feared that the Massa- 
chusetts, the Indian tribe to which they were going, were friendly with the 
Narragansetts, and he warned them that if they went the Massachusetts would 
very likely cut off the company that went, and in the meantime tell the Narra- 
gansetts that they were there, so that the Settlement could be attacked. 

Governor Bradford and Captain Standish talked a great deal with this 
man ; and to their alarm it presently came out, according to him, that Squanto 
himself was in the conspiracy and was only waiting to try and get them into 
their shallop away to those Indians. Then he told them of many secret meet- 
ings of Squanto in the woods with the Indians. 

This was a staggerer ! 

Therefore, not feeling quite certain what they ought to do, they called a 
council to discuss the matter. 

Up rose Stephen Wharton, saying : 

“ My friends, if we stay here we are waiting for danger, and eating out 
our hearts. Very soon it will be all we can eat, for God knows, we have very 
little food left. Go and seek it by trading, we must ! Well, then, suppose 
we do, we shall look as though we did not care a rap for their threats. And 
it seemeth to me that to make that impression on an Indian is a sure way to 
frighten him. But if we stay here they will wonder that we have not kept 
our promise to visit these Massachusetts, and they will think that we are little 
mouse men, hiding in our holes. My advice, therefore, is to go on with 
the voyage; let our Captain with ten men and Squanto and Hobbamock 

go" 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


109 



Away went the shallop before the wind. 


Stephen Wharton’s advice was followed, and off they set. Away 
went the shallop before the wind along the shore, when suddenly the 
wind dropped and they had to take down the sails and get out the oars in 
order to row. But while they were doing this, from the hill that over- 
looked the bay, they heard the sound that had been agreed upon as a danger 
signal — the firing of the three great guns on the hill, signalling to them to 
return. They looked at one another with great dismay , and turning the boat 
they put back with all the speed they could, putting on their armour mean- 
time and getting ready for the fight. And when they entered the harbour 
they saw that the Settlement itself had its men in armour likewise ; so they 
tore up the hill as quickly as they could. 

“ What is it ? ” cried Captain Standish, and Governor Bradford answered : 

“ You had no sooner gone than there came an Indian, belonging to Squanto's 
family here, who ran to some of our people who were in the fields, with his^ 


110 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS, 


face all covered with blood, and he called out to them, ‘ Home, home ! " And 
he kept looking behind him as if there were others after him. When they 
caught him he pointed in the direction of Namaschet, and holding up his ten 
fingers he cried : ‘ Many Narragansett ! Many Massasoits ! — Massasoyt no 
longer friend ! All coming. Me ran to tell Pale-face friends. See ! ' and 
he showed his bleeding face, still looking back as if he thought they were 
behind him. Then they brought him to me, so I called you back." 

All this time Hobbamock was watching this Indian, and before anyone 
else could speak he stepped up to the Governor and gravely said : 

“ Indian who say Massasoyt friend no longer, has tongue of the serpent. 
Massasoyt never do things and not ask chiefs first. Never, never, never ! 
Hobbamock is chief ! Hobbamock no heard. Hobbamock no understands ; 
but let Pale-face say the word, he go and ask Massasoyt." 

They looked at one another as though wondering what to make of this 
proposal. Then Governor Bradford quietly said : 

" The lips of Hobbamock have spoken well ; and the Pale-faces will hold 
talk and give him an answer." And the Indian with great dignity walked 
away ; and in obedience to a kind of a You-clear-out gesture from Captain 
Miles Standish, Squanto walked away too, but looking very offended. 

“ Well, this is a puzzle ! " Governor Bradford sighed. “ Between the tale 
of the Indian with the cut face and the story of Hobbamock, it is difficult to 
know which to believe. If the other Indian's tale is true, every man must be 
on guard ; if what Hobbamock says is true, then there is some plot has been 
spun, but the question is, who has spun it." 

“ May I say a word, please, sir ? " asked young John Wharton, colouring 
very much ; for he felt rather shy at sa5dng anything before such a crowd 
of older men, only he felt he had something to say and ought to say it. 

" Certainly, John," said the Governor kindly. “ We know thou dost 
not waste words and for such a youth as thou art thine opinions are sound." 

" Well, sir, I have got somehow into the habit of watching Squanto, and 
I think I know most of his little ways. And while Hobbamock was speaking 
I noticed that he looked very uncomfortable ; and I also noticed that his eyes 
spoke to the eyes of the other Indian, I mean the Indian with the cut face. 
And suddenly it flashed into my mind that Squanto, who is a bit of a boaster 
and always wants us to think he is a great man, and who always talks to the 
Indians, as if he wanted them to think so too, might have arranged with this 
man to play up as if this thing was true. I mean, I think he would say to 
himself, ‘ Squanto, if you make the Pale-faces think there is mischief, they 
will send you to put it right. Then Massasoyt will think Squanto great man 
among the Pale-faces. ’ And, as there is nothing to be put right, Squanto will 
come back and say that things were very bad, but Squanto has put them right. 
Then the Pale-faces will think Squanto great man among his own people; 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


Ill 


and they will give him gifts ! ’ There, sir, that is what I believe has really 
happened. Massasoyt is too simple a man to try to be on both sides." 

He stopped, having blurted out all this at a very rapid rate, and a murmur 
of approval went round the men and Captain Miles Standish exclaimed : 

“ John, thou art right ! I have often wondered at thee lying, watching 
the face of that dark-skinned Squanto, and it seems thou hast done it to some 
purpose. So," — turning to the men — " my advice is, let us send Hobbamock's 
squaw to the town of Massasoyt to find out. Then, we shall have Hobbamock 
here, in case he has been lying ; but if he turns out right, then we shall be able 
to deal with Squanto." 

That is exactly what they decided to do. Off went the squaw, and when 
she came there, she very quickly found out how matters stood. In a couple 
of days she returned, and then it came out that Squanto had been boasting 
to the Indians that he could lead the Pale-faces to keep peace or make war 
at his own pleasure ; saying that they always took his advice. So sometimes 
of late he had been sending them word privately that the Pale-faces intended 
to make war upon them, but that he would persuade them not. By which 
means he had secured many gifts from the Indians for himself. But as the 
peace between Massasoyt and the Pale-faces had continued a long time, he 
had got up this false alarm, hoping that they would use him to put things 
straight with the Indians. So John Wharton turned out right. 

Massasoyt was justly offended at Squanto 's lies and sent messengers with 
the squaw, insisting that the Pale-faces should deliver up Squanto to them, 
that Massasoyt might put him to death. But when the Governor was just 
handing Squanto into their hands, though he asked them to spare his life, 
suddenly a long boat, evidently from some ship, was seen to cross the bay. 

This made the Settlers very anxious ; for it looked as if perhaps some 
enemy ship were in league with the Indians against themselves. So, until 
the matter was settled, the Governor refused to let Squanto go. 

The boat turned out to be from a fishing ship called the Sparrow, with 
seven men, who ought before this to have come with the other thirty-five men 
from England. So there were seven more mouths to be fed. 

But the boat also brought a letter that contained the terrible news that 
a colony of white men which had settled in Virginia, a place some distance off, 
a colony that had been estabhshed and carried on for the sole purpose of 
getting money out of fishing and trading with the Indians. — It had been a 
much bigger colony than their own, for there had been as many as 347 men, 
women and children there. — I say " had been," for now they were everyone 
of them dead, having been killed by the Indians ; and there was one other, 
who had escaped, because he had been warned. 

This was fearful news, and coming at the very time when they were all 
anxious as to the behaviour of the Indians to themselves, it upset them. 


112 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


However, the Settlers sent word back by messengers in the boat to the 
fishing ship, and the other fishing ships that were with them, that they were 
very hard up for food and offering to buy some from them ; and the fishing 
ships, though they had very little themselves, managed to supply enough flour 
to keep the Settlers going till their own crops might be ready. 

Oh, how glad the Settlers were when they returned ; for though they had 
been very careful, yet what with their hard work and eating so little, they 
began to feel what some of the countries have had to feel during the recent 
war. 

But it was only for a time ; for about the end of the same month two 
more ships were seen to enter the harbour. 

These two ships that entered the harbour proved to be ships that carried 
sixty men, going to found another colony, some little distance away round 
the headland. They were not like the Mayflower men, who had come to the 
New World in search of Freedom : what had they come for ? Money ! — 
And as much of it as they could make, by fishing and by trading for skins to 
use for furs. It certainly seemed as though the people in the old country 
had the mistaken idea that the New Land was a kind of Tom Tiddler's ground 
where gold and silver was to be picked up just by tr3dng to get it. And will 
you beheve it ? all these sixty men expected that the little Settlement would 
find them lodgings until they were able to put up huts of their own in their 
new place. It is true they had food with them on the ships, and they drew 
ther. food every day ; but they were a rude and rough set of men, and the 
Settlers hated to have them with them. 

At last they went away, leaving their sick behind them to be nursed, and 
the Settlers hoped that they had seen the last of them. But, as you will see, 
they were not the kind of people that were able to stand on their own feet 
and to do without help. 

Meantime, Squanto's savage heart had been won by the free forgiveness 
of Governor Bradford and the colonists. They had made his peace with Massa- 
soyt, and it was an object lesson not only to Squanto, but to all the Indians, 
for they did not know before what forgiveness meant. I do not think that 
they had any word in their language to explain what forgiveness was. 

So it seemed as if, for a little time, peace had once more come to the little 
colony and they were settling down quite happily. 

Exy had been fearfully excited over one thing that had happened ; for 
her great friend, Mary Chilton, had actually married John Winslow, one of 
the thirty-five who had come over in the Fortune. The small girl herself was 
rapidly growing up to be a woman. What with the work and the keen air 
in the winter and the terrible heat of the summer, the girls somehow seemed 
to be older at fourteen than they did at home in the Old Country ; and she 
had won for herself a name in the Settlement, and the name was “ The little 
















THE YOUNG PILGRIMS, 


113 


mother/' Every minute that she could spare she gave up to nursing Widow 
Ford's little baby, and as for the other children in the Settlement they simply 
worshipped Exy. But apart from the children, whom she mothered, she had 
eyes and ears for no one but her brother John. 

“Oh, Mother! " she would say, “isn't he just growing into a strapping 
young man ? " 

“ Ay, but you needn't look at him as if you thought so." 

“ I like that. Mistress 1 " chimed in Stephen Wharton. “ Why, whenever 
John is about, I know a pair of eyes that follow every movement he makes. 
And those eyes are not far away from thy head." And he laughed heartily. 

“ Maybe, maybe ! the fact is we are all doing our best to spoil him. What 
with the fuss that Captain Standish and Governor Bradford make of him, 
he will be getting so conceited, that there will be no doing anything with him" 
“I see no sign of it at present, Mistress," his father remarked. “ But 
there, the lad is a good lad, and there was a time when I never thought I should 

have to say. Back in the Old Country " 

“ ‘ Back in the Old Country I ' " she snapped — “ back in the Old Country 
you never understood John. Anyone could see that with half an eye." 

“ Back in the Old Country John never understood me," said his father 
very gravely. “ The fact is, it has done John a world of good to get out here 



Off went the squaw. 


H 


116 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


to work in the fields were scarcely able to walk back to the Settlement, and 
sometimes actually fell down on the way. Growing boys like John Wharton 
and growing girls like his sister Exy especially suffered amongst the worst. 

And all this time the great waters of the bay were tantalizingly full of 
fish, but it was a kind of fish that they needed nets in order to catch them 
with, and they had none. 

Early one morning Captain Standish exclaimed to Governor Bradford : 

“ Methinks, I cannot stand and look on at these suffering people and do 
nothing. Yes,” — fiercely — “ do nothing. Why do we sit still ? ” 

“ What can we do ? ” answered Governor Bradford gravely. It is 
useless our attempting to go to Massasoyt. He and his people are perhaps 
as badly off as we are and for the same cause.” 

Captain Standish nodded. 

“ I know it ! I know it ! But the Massachusetts have bigger hunting 
grounds and more venison and they have larger fields to sow and more corn 
stored. I know they were our enemies and sent us that rattlesnake skin full 
of arrows ; but they have been friendly with us ever since. If thou dost not 
forbid it, I would like to take a few men with me and see if they will trade 
with us for corn and sell us venison.” And, pressing his hands to his waist, 
he groaned ! “ Oh, that very word ‘ venison ' sets me longing ! Could I 

but have a venison pasty for dinner 'twould be a feast indeed. Oh ! ” and 
he raised his hands in anticipation. 

Thus it was that at last, driven by sheer worry and want. Captain Stan- 
dish and a few of the Settlers determined to go and visit the Massachusett 
Indians and see if they could buy some corn in exchange for knives and beads. 
John and his father went with him in the shallop, but the first time they were 
turned back again by the violence of the wind and the roughness of the sea. 

They tried again a second time, but to their dismay Captain Standish 
fell dangerously ill of a violent fever — a fever brought on by a chill, caught 
while he was working in the fields in an exhausted and half-starved condition. 
So Governor Bradford determined to store all the corn that had been gathered 
from the fields ; and to spend a great deal of time in making the fortifications 
of the little Settlement much stronger ; for rumours kept reaching them that 
the watchful eyes of the Indians had noticed their famine-stricken condition 
and that their busy tongues had spread the news. They felt quite certain 
that they were surrounded by cunning, cruel enemies, who were merely waiting 
till they were too weak to strike a blow in self-defence, in order to pounce upon 
them and eat them up. 

But when the Settlers had done all they could at the fortifications. Governor 
Bradford made up his mind to attempt the thing once more ; and took Squanto 
with him and the rest, and set forth for another try to get into touch with 
these Massachusetts. This time they succeeded in getting along the shore, 
and landed. 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


117 



He held aloft one of the knives. 


“Just you take Squanto with you, John," said the Governor, “and see 
if you can find any of the Indians about ; for no matter how they waited it 
seemed as though the place were deserted. 

“ They're ‘ about ' right enough, sir,” said John. “ I believe they are just 
hiding in order to keep away. Anyhow we will wander towards them.” 

So very deliberately, and in the case of Squanto with very great dignity, 
as though he thought he were the chosen of the Pale-faces, on they walked 
towards the woods ; and presently a bright idea struck John, and taking out 
of his pockets some of the beads he let them trickle from one hand into another, 
and then held aloft one of the knives, giving a loud “ Hullo ! ” 

This he did in case the woods in front of them were full of eyes to see. 

It very quickly turned out that they were ; for as soon as John and Squanto 
returned to the shallop the shore behind them gradually became dotted with 
groups of Indians here and there who came moved by curiosity. 

Squanto grew very busy. He gave long speeches to the Indians ; he 
translated their replies to the Pale-faces. 

“ Massachusetts be great people ! Most — far away out shore ! These 
small parts ! They say to Squanto, ‘ Welcome, Pale-faces ! Plenty eat ! if 
Pale-faces want.’ ” 

“ If Pale-faces want ? ” Why, they were yearning for the sight of “ Plenty 


m 


i'HB yOUKG PILGRIMS. 


eat/' And, immediately Squanto let this be known, they brought plenty of 
venison and other food to the hungry men. 

While they were eating the natives made great promises that they would 
trade with them, and thinking that perhaps he might be able to induce them to 
give him more by so doing. Governor Bradford decided to stay the night there. 

Squanto turned to the Indians and announced the fact with great pom- 
posity. 

** The Pale-faces say they will be the guests of the people who have wel- 
comed them so kindly ; and when the sun has risen again they will buy and 
trade with their friends." 

This was quite another matter. Always suspicious, the Indians began 
to wonder why the Pale-faces wanted to stay. They began to be full of doubt. 
Their minds fell to questioning, whether if they brought their stores these 
people with the iron sticks that spoke with a great noise and shot forth lightning 
would not take them by force. They whispered amongst themselves. Little 
by little the crowd thinned ; the shore grew deserted, and presently in sheer 
terror, the final stragglers vanished with a rush. 

Now, Squanto ! What is the meaning of this ? " asked Governor Brad- 
ford. “ Why have they gone away like this ? " 

Looking very puzzled Squanto replied : 

“ Squanto no know ! Squanto he go ask ! " 

After he had been away some long time he managed with difficulty to 
persuade them that their visitors were Pale-faces with white hearts and words 
that were true, and then they consented to trade ; and the Governor actually 
secured from these people eight barrels of corn and beans. 

The natives here, however, turned out to be only a few hundreds of the 
great tribe of the Massachusetts ; and when he understood this. Governor 
Bradford was all for sailing on and trying to trade with the rest of that tribe. 
So the shallop pushed on, calling here and there ; and it very quickly became 
clear why the Indians had avoided them, for they heard nothing but complaints 
as to the way the new Settlement at Wessagusset was behaving to them. 

“This is what I feared," said Governor Bradford to Stephen Wharton. 
“ Just what I feared, as if our troubles were not enough, we shall now have 
to deal with the suspicions these men rouse by their unfair treatment of the 
natives." And his face crimsoned with anger. 

Then, right in the very midst of all their anxiety, there came the greatest 
trouble of all. 

Squanto suddenly began to moan and to be very sick over the side of 
the shallop ; and when, for his sake, they went close in shore, and having landed, 
they carried him off the vessel, he began to violently bleed at the nose, and 
it was clear he had the plague of the district from which so many were suffering. 

They waited, in their kindness to their native friend, many hours, although 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


119 



they were very anxious to be gone ; but before they could go themselves Squanto, 
had gone — ^gone for ever. Yes, the adventurous life of the Indian was over. 
Born in the backwoods of America, he had grown up to see the boats of the 
Pale-faces fishing in the waters of his people. He had learnt that beyond those 
waters there lay another great nation ; and seeing their power he had beccmie 
their friend, and in his simple pride of heart at the friendship of the great 
strangers, had fallen into the sin of boasting about it. Then, when he found 
that his boasting made the Children of his People give him presents, it seemed 
a quick way to become rich. But, since he had been found out, he had been 
a very much meeker kind of man. He was like a child who had had a wirip- 
ping, and now wanted to show that be wished to be good. And another thing 
that had made this poor savage think, was the wonderful way in which the 
Settlers had begged hard that Massasoyt would forgive him. 

Somehow, as he lay there fast passing away at the calling of the Great 
Spirit, thoughts of many kinds rushed through his mind. Back came to him 
the scene in which he first came to the Settlement. He remembered how he 
had strode in amongst the strangers with the one word “ Welcome 1 " and, 
turning his dark eyes full of a dog-like pleading, he murmured to Governor 
Bradford : 

“ Pray Englishmen's God to give Squanto ' Welcome ' in heaven ! ” 

Then turning to John, he said : 


120 


TBE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


“ John, he good Pale-face boy. Make good chief when many moons pass. 
John, take knife," and he signed to them to give his knife to John. Then, 
adding with his last words : 

“Tell Captain Standish, Squanto white friend to the last," He dropped 
his head upon his breast and closed his eyes ; and as Governor Bradford prayed, 
“ O Thou Who lovest us all. Thou to Whom there is neither bond nor free, 
black nor white, take this untaught child of this Old World unto Thyself, and 
for Christ’s sake, bid him welcome even as he welcomed us." 

CHAPTER XXIII 

ALARMING NEWS 

G overnor Bradford had just got back to the settlement with the 
little quantity of corn that he had been able to buy. 

“ There ! " he said, “ that is all that we have been able to get, and that 
is all that we shall be able to get from these Massachusetts. They are a suspi- 
cious people of a suspicious tribe, but they have been made so. It is the seed 
springing up that has been sown by these new settlers.” 

All the way home John had been thinking hard, and now he said : 

“ Please, sir, do you remember when my father and Master Winslow went 
to Nauset, on their way to see Massasoyt for the first time ? " 

Governor Bradford nodded. 

“ Well, sir, father here would tell you he was struck with the fact that 
there must be many Massasoit Indians right inland. Wasn’t that so, father ? ” 
“ Ay, ay ! lad. What art thinking about them ? ’’ 

“ I was thinking that perhaps if instead of sticking to these Indians along 
the shore we went to those inland we might be able to get some more corn." 

This seemed a very good idea to the whole company and, as the Governor 
stood there talking, the burly, familiar figure of Captain Standish came along 
the shore to them. They had left him very sickly, just recovering from an 
attack of fever, and the face of Governor Bradford brightened when he caught 
sight of him. 

It only took a few minutes to tell him all there was to be told, and then 
the Captain declared that he would go himself with one or two others and visit 
these inland towns of the Massasoits. So the very next time that it looked 
as if their store of corn was in danger he and two or three others went off by 
themselves to try and reach Manomet, which was the name of one of these 
towns, and lay at least twenty miles inland. 

The chief of this place was a man named Canacum, and, until the present, 
he had always professed to be very friendly to Governor Bradford and his 
people ; so Captain Standish was looking forward to getting a hearty welcome. 
But to his great surprise he was only received very coldly. 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


121 



What was it that had changed the faces of the Indians towards the men 
of the Mayflower Settlement ? I think I can explain it to you best by 
telling you how when once I was passing by some palings which a couple 
of men were covering with tar, I stopped to speak to them and got splashed 
with the tar myself. This is just what had happened to the Mayflower Colony. 
They were known to be the friends of the Pale-faces in the New Colony at 
Wessagusset, and the wretched ways of those men to the Indians had tarred 
their own reputation ; and some of the tar splashings had got on the fame 
of the Mayflower men too. 

Wessagusset, to which these men had sailed and where they had decided 
to settle, was a place that, when it was viewed from the sea, and especially 
during summer, seemed to say to passers-by : “ Come here and stay ! Come 
here and stay ! Here are forests with shelter from the heat ; here on my 


Toasting themselves at the fire. 


122 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


shores is fishing for the asking ; here there is good soil for growing food. Come 
and stay.” So they had come to stay, at least so they thought. 

When first they landed, there were two things in their favour : one, that 
they had brought plenty of food in their vessels, with which to go on ; and 
the other was that they had with them heaps and heaps of presents, in the 
shape of knives and beads and daggers and mirrors, with which to trade with 
the Indians, and buy fish and com and furs. 

You would have imagined, that if they were really anxious to settle and 
to stay, that, like the men of the Mayflower, one of the first things they 
attempted would be building themselves huts in which to live. But, persuad- 
ing themselves that they had plenty of time to think about that, as it was 
only September, they got busy at getting together goods of all kinds to send 
back to England. Wdiy bother about building and laying in stores of food, 
when they were surrounded with Indians who were only too eager to sell them 
things ? So, chiefly camping in the open, they let their whole time and 
thoughts be taken up by trading. 

You will hardly believe it, perhaps, but a mean jealousy of the Mayflower 
Settlement made them try to get the Indians to trade with themselves rather 
than the others. And at first they found this easy ! For, as if their store of 
knives and beads would never come to an end, they gave these things, yes, 
twice as many of them, as the Plymouth people would have given for the corn 
and the furs that the Indians liked to bring in ; and, of course, as the price 
seemed so much better, the Indians, like any other people, sold their goods 
where they could get the highest price. 

These savages loved the easy profits, but they gradually came to hate 
the men from whom they made them ; for this fresh lot of Pale-faces were 
not like the men in the other Settlement. There, the Settlers were quiet, 
grave, dignified, even as the Indians themselves; these men were rough, 
ready with their blows, and ill-treated the Indians even while they dealt with 
them. And Indians always remember ! 

Gradually the New Colony at Wessagusset became the birthplace where 
was born hatred and suspicion of the Pale-faces. You see, lookers-on like 
these Massachusett Indians could not see into the hearts of men; they could 
only judge their ways. They had not had much to do with the Mayflower 
men, except what they had heard from Massasoyt ; but now they had close 
dealings with these new colonists, they of course took them for a sample of 
all the rest. So because they felt spiteful to the one they felt spiteful to the 
other ; and bit by bit the things that these Wessagusset men did sharpened 
their spite till it became keen as the edge of a razor. 

The winter, which, as we have seen, proved such a terror to the men of 
the Mayflower Colony, hurt the others worse. It found them unready, with 
no homes, no comforts ; and while the Settlers of the Mayflower Colony huddled 


The young pilgrims. 


123 


in their own settlement and made food last as long as possible, winter brought 
the men of the new colony face to face with hard facts. 

They lit large wood fires, around which they crouched, but there was 
scarcely enough heat to warm them ; they lived, hoping for better times, on 
the food they had by them. But you cannot eat food up and have it too ; 
and, little by little, their stores got lower and lower ; and by the end of January 
they were facing starvation, unless they allowed themselves to break into the 
store that they had put by for seed. 

Now came the results of the things that they had done. It was in vain 
that they eagerly sought to buy corn from the Indians. They had aheady 
by their carelessness made the price so high, that their store of presents was 
well-nigh exhausted, and their very eagerness to get the Indians to sell opened 
the Indians’ eyes to the fact that their enemies were in danger of starvation. 

That was quite enough ! The Indians refused either to sell them or lend 
them any more at any price. 

There was nothing for it j they were compelled to break into the store 
they had put by for seed, and in a month this also was finished. Then they 
began to bargain with the Indians, and to the shame of the Pale-faces, actually 
offered to cut wood for these natives, and to bring them water ; anything and 
everything to get a meal’s meat. 

Sometimes by night they turned thieves, and even dug into the earth 
and robbed the stores belonging to the Indians. 

From that time forth their fate was sealed. The Indians began to plot 
how they could destroy them ; but these Indians were not short-sighted. 

*‘No,” they said to themselves ; “if we kill these Pale-faces, then the other 
Pale-faces will want to punish us. We must kill them all at the same time, 
and leave no trace.’’ 

So they had sent ambassadors to the Indians of all the tribes to try and 
get them to agree, and they had gained over the Indians of Nauset, Paomet, 
Succonet, Manomet and others, and the only one they could not get to join 
with them was Massasoyt. 

This accounted for the great coldness with which Captain Miles Standish 
was received at Manomet ; and though the Captain could not understand it, 
yet he had a sense of danger stirring in him, and though he was forced to pass 
the night there and the men who were with him, he warned them not to sleep 
and did not sleep himself. 

The night was bitterly cold, but the Captain and the others remained 
talking and walking up and down or toasting themselves at the fire ; and 
next morning, in spite of the persuasions of the Indians that he and his friends 
would go on to Paomet to get more com, the Captain refused, making excuses 
that he must get back, and back he came. 

Meanwhile, in his absence, a very strange thing had occurred ; and it was 


124 


THE YOtjm PItMRIMB. 


happening in the lodge of the chief, Massasoyt. The poor man had been 
taken seriously ill, and as usual among the Indians all his friends and neigh- 
bours crowded into the chief’s hut to offer him their sympathy ; and with them 
came the witch-doctors, called Powows. Picture the scene if you can : the 
sick man lying there upon his mat bed, — a small space of the Indian house 
as full of men as some cheap market is on a Saturday night ; and there close 
by the bed the Powows were muttering and screaming and shaking their bodies 
to and fro until they sweated through their exertions. Every now and then 
they would stoop over Massasoyt and stroke his forehead and face ; then they 
would bellow like a calf, or grunt like a bear, and as fast as they came to a 
short stop all the rest of the men present would utter a roar in chorus. 

This they had kept up for hours ; and the poor sufferer, even if he had 
not been ill, would of course been made so by the stifling heat of the place 
and the fact that the Powows never left him alone for a moment. 

Massasoyt had been ill for some days, and at last he asked whether his 
English friends knew that he was ill, and wondered that they did not come 
to see. 

“ Ugh ! ” answered one of his friends. Now the chief of the Massasoits 
will be able to see that the English do not care. The Pale-faces only make 
show. When they can get anything they are ready to give ; but their hearts 
are black ; and they have but come to the land of the Massasoits to eat it up. 
If not, why do they not come to see their friend ? Does not bad news fly 
like a swift bird ? Yes, every one of the Pale-faces has heard by this time, 
and is saying in his heart, ' Who is it that will stand in the place of Massasoyt 
when he has gone ? Tell us his name, that we may make friends with him. 
Where is the man who will be the first to tell us of the death of Massasoyt, 
that we may be some of the first to wait upon the great chief that will be after 
him?’ ” 

When a man is weak and ill many little things seem unto him as though 
they were big, and as the hours dragged by and no one came from the Settle- 
ment, then at last Massasoyt began to think that it was even so as they had 
said. But at last there came one running and cried that the Pale-faces were 
sending two messengers ; and presently, pushing their way through the crowded 
hut, there entered Master Edward Winslow and young John Wharton, whom 
he had induced to come with him. 

The chief who had sneered at them had been right in one thing : like 
a swift bird had the news flown that Massasoyt was ill, and instantly they 
had determined to come to him. 

It was a wonder that they had pushed forward, for on the way Hobba- 
mock, who had taken the place of Squanto as the Settlers’ interpreter, was 
told by treacherous Indians, who wished the English to turn back, that Massa- 
soyt was dead and had been buried that day. But, making up their minds 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


125 


to go on in spite of this, in order that they might show their sorrow to Massa- 
soyt's squaw, they presently heard that he was not yet dead, though there 
did not seem the slightest hope that they would find him living. However, 
when they heard this, Edward Winslow and John and Hobbamock hurried 
forward with all their might, so that they arrived at the hut late that 
night. 

Massasoyt seemed about as far as a man could go and still remain ahve. 
He was lying there upon the mat and eight women were around him, some of 
whom were rubbing his arms and hands and others his feet and legs in order 
to keep the blood circulating. 

When they told him that the Pale-faces had come to see him, he asked. 
Who had come ? and they told him Winslow. 

The chief stretched out his shaky hand, saying : 

“ Oh, Winslow, Winslow, I cannot see thee ! Massasoyt will never again 
see the light For the poor man had been made quite blind by his sudden 
illness. 



126 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


Edward Winslow had brought with him several simple remedies and beckon- 
ing to Hobbamock : 

“ Just you tell Massasoyt, Pale-face has something with him — make 
him better if he will try to take it." 

The chief nodded, and Edward Winslow began to feed him little by little 
from the point of his knife, then seeing that he could not swallow, he had a look 
at his tongue and throat, and he came to the conclusion that he was suffering 
from quinsy. So as he knew there was nothing for it but to wait for the quinsy, 
he gave him some medicine and began every now and then to feed him on 
chicken broth. 

After several hours, as he seemed to be hungry, Edward Winslow sent out 
John to see if he could shoot a couple of birds. Fortunately John was success- 
ful, and the birds that he brought back were dressed and cooked and some 
more broth made with the rest. But in the very midst of eating it Massasoyt 
became very sick, and, whether the reaching broke the quinsy or not, one thing 
was certain : he began to bleed at the nose for a very long time ; and after 
that the pain stopped and he slept for several hours. 

When he awoke he was better. He had recovered his sight and now he 
had recovered his speech ; and he cried out to Hobbamock : 

“Now I see the English are my friends and love me and want me to live. 
Where is the liar who with cunning words sought to steal through the doors 
of my ears, that he might make me think they wish me to die " 

Yes, he was full of gratitude, and just before they left he called Hobbamock 
to him and told him all about the plot, in which the Massachusetts had invited 
him to join. Then he said : 

“The Pale-faces must kill the Massachusetts, or even kill their cliief. 
It will stop all war. I know that the Pale-faces never make war first except 
to defend themselves and their squaws ; but Massachusetts make up mind 
to come, and surely it is easier to stop the stream, when it begins to trickle, 
than when it has become a flood." All of which Hobbamock turned into his 
broken English for the benefit of Master Winslow and John. 

And when they had heard they departed, and coming into the Settlement 
found it even so as had been said, for Captain Miles Stan dish had returned 
and brought back the news that the Indians of Nauset had changed their faces 
towards them. 

So when the two who had come from Massasoyt had told their tale. Cap- 
tain Miles Standish flushed all over his face with anger and would have started 
out there and then, but for the influence of Governor Bradford, who restrained 
him ; and, even as they were arguing, there came a messenger from the Wessa- 
gusset Colony with a letter for Governor Bradford. 

The Governor opened the letter amidst profound silence, then seemed that 
it was his turn to flush; for he handed the letter to Captain Standish, 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


127 


crying, “ Infamous ! Infamous ! And these call themselves Englishmen ! ” 

From the letter it appeared that the Massachusett Indians had refused 
in any way to trade any longer with the settlers of the New Colony ; so they 
had decided to take the food from the Indians by violence ; but before they 
did so they had sent this letter to Governor Bradford to inform him of what 
they intended to do ; for they were very anxious that the men of the Mayflower 
Colony should make common cause with them. 

“ Tis as if a house-breaker had broken into a house,’' said Captain Stan- 
dish, “ and then demanded that they should feed him. And when they refused, 
raise his pistol and tell them he would take it by force. Sir ?” he roared, 
turning to the messenger, “ verily you are all rogues. Would I had the answer- 
ing of this letter I ” 

Governor Bradford broke in with, Indeed and of a truth you are welcome 
to answer it. Here is John Alden,” — a young man who always acted as the 
secretary and clerk of the Governor, — “tell him what you would say. But 
if thou hast any words that are like whips and scorpions, then in God’s name 
use them all.” 

“ Trust ME ! ” grimly. “ Now, Master Alden, take down what thou shalt 
write in answer ! ” 

And the letter that John Alden took down and that was sent was this, 
sharp and to the point : 

“ If you are in want, so are we. We are forced to live on ground-nuts, 
clams, mussels, and anything that we can get ; and you have the same, besides 
oysters, which we have not. As for your idea of using force to get food it will 
not get you much, and when what you have got is gone, you will find your- 
selves amongst bitter enemies. Already you have made the name of Pale- 
face to stink amongst these Indians. Certain it is you will receive no kind of 
help from us, in taking food from them by violence ; and if you do this thing 
yourselves, then as soon as the news reach England, — a matter that we will 
see to — we have no doubt a greater force than yours will be sent overseas to 
call you to account and hang you as you deserve.” 

So the messenger returned, leaving behind the men of the Mayflower full 
of worry and grief. 

CHAPTER XXIV 

WAR 

I T was March 23, 1623 — just two years and three months since the men of 
the Mayflower landed. Things were different in the little Colony now ! 
Then, all was hope and uncertainty. Now, all was uncertainty and no hope. 
The Settlers, by this time, knew pretty well what they had to expect. There 


128 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


was very little likelihood that the question of their dealings with the Indians 
would cease from continually cropping up. If it was not one tribe, it would 
be another. There was very little likelihood, either, that for some long time 
their crops and their stores would be sufficient for them. As soon as it seemed 
that they had plenty to look forward to, some unforeseen visit made inroads 
into their stock. It began to look — yes, certainly, it began to look as if there 
were some e^^emies over in England, who, if the Mayflower men succeeded, 
would set up rivals ; and if they failed would rejoice to hear it. 

On this 23rd March there was held the Yearly Court Day, and it was the 
custom for Governor Bradford to give them all an address ; and, as he looked 
around his audience, men, women and children, numbering close on to a hundred, 
he told them how thankful he felt that there were more of them to face the 
anxieties and cares of what looked like a coming conflict with the Indians. 

I have been very glad, friends, of this opportunity to call you all to- 
gether, for I want you to discuss whether we ought to take any steps to protect 
ourselves ; and if so, how ? " 

Then up rose Captain Miles Standish. 

“ It seemeth to me that while we sit here doing nothing, we are doing the 
worst thing possible for ourselves. It has been made known unto you by our 
friend, Massasoyt, that there has been a plot against ourselves. And the 
news came not only from him, but it was clear from the manner of the Indians 
at Manomet to myself and companions. On the heels of all this came the 
letter from the wretched men at Wessagusset ; and though they richly deserve 
all that they have got and all that they may get, yet we cannot stand by and 
see men of our own race destroyed utterly without raising a finger in the matter. 
They who will not interfere to protect a victim from one who was about to 
kill him is, to my mind, guilty of the murder. But it is for you to say what 
should be done.” 

Then some said one thing, and some another, and in the end it was agreed 
that Governor Bradford and the Captain should take to themselves as many 
men as they thought fit and form a party ; and that the steps they took after- 
wards should be left to their common sense. 

Now, as you have seen. Captain Standish was a man of action ; and he 
had scarcely left the Meeting House, before glancing around, he made choice 
of eight men, men upon whom he could rely, for they had been with him in 
several excursions among the Indians. Stephen Wharton and his son, and 
Edward Winslow, and five others were picked out immediately, and he com- 
manded them to be ready the next morning to go and face their plotting enemies. 

The next morning, however, there came one of the men from the new 
Colony, and the tale that he had to tell was pitiful hearing. This was the 
tale : 

“ Since our messenger left you and came to us with your letter, things 









. ■« I M w ig 


* ' 

e V.. , 


■ ♦’ 











/ 



I 




4 • 











r 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


129 



They made straight to the ship. 


have in one month become worse and worse. We have been living amidst 
a crowd of Indians, who, seeing how weak we are, have become full of contempt 
for us all. When we received your letter we took your advice and gave up 
our idea of taking anything from the savages by force. More than that, we 
hanged one man by the neck who tried to steal some food by his own cunning. 
But everything we did only seemed to make the savages think we were doing 
it because we were afraid of them, and they swaggered in and out amongst 
us as bold as you please. I have seen them with my own eyes snatch some of 
the little food we had cooking right out of oiir pots, and if anything was said 
to them, they were ready to hold a knife at our throats. The result is that 
our people have broken up the Settlement and are wandering in three com- 
panies, although they have scarcely any powder and shot left. They are 
dying of cold and hunger and have got rid of most of their clothes by bartering 
them away for food, and " As the man said this, he added with a despair- 

ing wave of his hand ; “ I don't know what will be the end of it." 

The men of the Settlement had listened to this story with flashing eyes 
and angry murmurs. They could picture the scene — some malicious-eyed 
Indian putting his filthy hand into one of the cooking pots of the Pale-faces 


130 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


and gnawing it before their starving eyes ; and then walking off with a true 
Indian swagger and taunt in every manner. They could picture the hardships 
that these three little companies must be going through ; for some of them 
had themselves been lost in the woods. And when the messenger went on : 

“ I forgot to teU you one thing : there is one of our men, who had so com- 
pletely forgotten himself that he has turned Indian himself ! ” Then they all 
saw it was time to interfere. If they did not, it would be their own turn next. 

“ Friends,'' cried Captain Standish, “ there is no doubt about it ! It must 
be war — War — War ! " 

And there was an answering murmur of approval. 

The same day, therefore. Captain Standish departed in the shaUop, and 
knowing the cunning of the Indians, they felt it was useless to go to them openly 
with a perfectly clear intention to make war ; so they took goods in their shallop, 
as though they were going to the New Colony for the purpose of trade, and 
took Hobbamock with them, as though he would be their interpreter. And 
away they went. Every man of them was on his guard, knowing full weU 
that if they did not appear to be careless the watching Indians would jump 
to the fact that these men were on very serious business, and it would be about 
as likely that they would be able to set eyes on a single native of the Massachu- 
setts as that a cat would see a mouse, if the mouse had been warned. 

So, led by the clear tones of young John, they sang as they rowed and 
as they sailed, and presently they came to the land of the Massachusetts, and 
naturally they made straight to the ship that belonged to the New Colony. 

Utterly puzzled, they found not a single man on board, and they stared 
at one another wondering what the silence of the forsaken vessel meant. There 
was not even a dog to bark ! Did it mean . . . ? — and at the thought they 
looked at one another in dismay. Did it mean that they were too late ? 

They pulled in towards shore and fired off a gun, and as the echoes of 
the explosion ran along the shore, suddenly the master of the plantation in 
that part of the colony and several of the men with him showed themselves, 
and it appeared that they had simply been ashore gathering nuts. 

But," blurted out Captain Standish, “ why leave the ship and come 
on shore in such reckless fashion ? It is like asking the Indians to put their 
knives at your throats. I never heard of such senseless folly ! " 

The master did not show by the tiniest gleam in his eyes that he felt any 
anger at the Captain's roughness : no, he spoke and he moved like a cowed 
dog. 

“We do not fear the Indians. The beasts come and go as they please, 
and they do as they like. Indian or Pale-face, it is all pretty much the same 
in this colony. Has to be," he said with a grin, “ till we can alter things ; 
and there isn't much chance of that." 

Then Captain Standish unfolded to them the plot that was preparing for 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


131 


their destruction, and how, at a given signal, these Indians would all set on 
them and slaughter every man. And as they listened they turned pale, and 
willingly took the Captain’s advice to let all the rest of the Settlers who were 
farthest off from home know exactly how matters stood, and put them on 
their guard. 

“ Then,” said he, ” if you find you cannot stay, badly off as we are at 
New Plymouth, we will receive you there until some better provision can be 
made, and meanwhile we will allow you all a pint of Indian corn to every man 
for a day or two while you are here.” 

It was not long before news flew, as it were on the wings of an eagle, of 
the presence of the men of the Mayflower , — the fact which Captain Standish 
soon learnt by the appearance of an Indian with furs upon his arm. 

He and his squaw came down to the shallop, throwing out their hands 
in welcome and smiling their pleasure at seeing these Pale-faces from the other 
side of the headland. 

“ Hobbamock, tell friends me good trade. Nice furs ! English buy ! ” 
But as he spoke his shifty, ferret-like eyes were searching the shallop to see 
what it contained. But the Captain met him at the gangway, and though 
he held out his hand in welcome, there was a sternness about his face that 



On the handle was a carved face. 


132 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


conveyed to the sharp-eyed Indian that the Captain of the Pale-faces was 
angry ; and when the trading was done it was not long before he had spread 
the news through the lodges and wigwams of the Massachusetts, and they 
began to suspect that their plot was discovered and kept away. 

“ Hobbamock ! exclaimed Captain Standish, “ just you go up and mix 
with some of them and see what they are at. Remember that they are not 
to know that we know already. Let them know that we think we are safe ! ' 

The Captain and the rest, by this time, had left their shaUop and were 
gathered in one of the few huts — if huts they could be called — that had been 
put up by the new colonists ; but they had not been there long before Hobba- 
mock returned. 

“ Ugh ! V he said. “ There is much of trouble ! Pale-face angry in heart ! 
Indian angry with tongue. Little chief name Pecksuot tell Hobbamock his 
heart knows why Pale-faces come here to-day. ‘ Tell him we know, but we 
no fear. If he come to kill us, we fight till all Pale-faces are killed.' " 

Hobbamock had not long brought back this message before several Indian 
braves stalked up to the plantation and in their native tongue called Hobba- 
mock every vile name they could think of. They snapped their fingers be foie 
his nose ; they sharpened the points of their knives before his face — and this 
went on from first one and then another. 

With the marvellous power the Indians have of not showing what they 
feel, Hobbamock listened and gave no sign ; but now and then his eyes would 
turn to his white friends as much as to say, “ Why do you put up with this ? " 

Now amongst those who came and who danced and strutted and pushed 
the points of their knives under the very nose of Hobbamock there was one 
native whose name was Wituwamat. 

He strode up to Hobbamock and showed him that on the end of the handle 
of his knife there was carved a woman's face. Then he grinned, a grin full of 
malice, and made him a long speech. 

What did he say to you ? " demanded Captain Standish, who had been 
watching this man’s antics. 

** He say — he another knife at home which has killed other English and 
on handle it has man's face. This knife he show me has woman's face, and he 
laugh and he say, ‘ The man and the woman must marry. ' Then he go on 
to say his knife hungry and by and by it eat." 

Just then Pecksuot, who was a rather tall man, crept up to the Captain 
who, though he was very broad-shouldered, was very short, and Pecksuot 
looking down at him, exclaimed, “ You little man ! Ugh, little man ! " with 
infinite contempt. 

But the Captain made no movement and said not a word, — only looked — 
looked the Indian in the eyes, and Pecksuot moved away. 


THE TOUNO PILGRIMS. 


133 



He killed him with his own knife. 

The next morning came, and during the night the Captain had made 
up his mind that he would stand no more nonsense ; and as it was not 
very long before these bragging Indians began their insolent practices once 
more, the Captain simply watched his opportunity. 

He let them come and go ; he let them speak insultingly ■; he let them 
strut and swagger ; and he even listened — and that with a smile on his face 
— to the long speech of Wituwamat, who was evidently boasting. 

“ I am a great brave,” sang out the Indian. “ By the power of my hands 
have I slain many men ! I lifted this hand and I struck, — I struck hard and 
when I struck, there was but one notch of Time and then the spirit of my 
enemies flew out and returned no more to its house. As my hand was then, 
so shall it be now ! As my knife was sharp and keen then, so shall it be now ! 
But presently, its sharp edge will be blunted, for its edge will have turned on 


134 


TEE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


the bones of the Pale-faces." And when he ceased his boastings then would 
his squaw take up the tale of the greatness of her man. 

As for Pecksuot, this tall chief flitted in and out, and never did he come 
anywhere near to Captain Standish without he snapped his fingers and cried, 
“ Little man ! Little man ! " 

All this had been going on for about an hour, when Captain Standish, 
seeing that Wituwamat and Pecksuot were close together, gave a stamp with 
his foot — the sign that they had agreed upon — and suddenly the door was 
shut ! The next moment Captain Standish snatched Pecksuot 's own knife 
from his neck, closed with the man who had been taunting him, and after a 
fierce struggle, killed him with his own knife, its point being sharp as a needle. 

The rest of them set on Wituwamat and one of his companions, swiftly 
killing them with their short swords ; and seizing another young brave who 
was Wituwamat ’s brother, they flung open the door. 

Captain Standish gave one glance at the young native, who stood there 
panting, but showing in his face, every line of it, a haughty defiance ; and 
realizing that he had captured him, but not tamed him, and that the spirit that 
flamed from his eyes was the spirit of his tribe. Captain Standish cried : 

“ Hang the brute on yonder tree, as an example to the rest ! " 

Meanwhile Hobbamock had stood there, simply watching the struggle, 
but taking no part in it ; but as soon as the young brother of Wituwamat had 
been hung he grunted his satisfaction, and striding up to the Captain said : 

“ One moon ago Pecksuot 's tongue wagged in his mouth. Lo, it wagged 
too much ! He say to you, ‘ Little man ! little man ! ' He stretched his 
neck to try to look Big Man ! He poked his face into the Pale-face and his 
eyes spake the feelings of his heart. He hate you with hate that burn him 
up. You say not a word, but look at him. Yes," — here he laughed,- — “ Yes, 
you look at him even as big dog at a pap dog. Then, Pecksuot, he think 
you afraid. To-day, he come again, and now, in the land of the great spirit 
where he has gone, he know that you big enough to lay him there ! " And 
he looked at the body with infinite contempt and kicked it. 

But they had no time to waste over enemies who had already been dis- 
posed of, they felt they were at the beginning of a big struggle, and driving 
the squaws before them, they left them in the care of the new colonists and 
sent a messenger from them to another company of their men to kill those 
Indians who were amongst them ; and when they received the message of 
Captain Standish they instantly turned on the savage plotters, who were deceit- 
fully mixing with them, intent upon taking their fives, and took theirs. 

Captain Standish, with some of his own men, went to another place and 
killed another Indian ; but, somehow, another savage who had seen it escaped 
and made known to the larger body of the Massachusetts that the Pale-faces 
had discovered their plot and were angry with them. 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


135 


It was not long before the party of Captain Standish caught sight of a 
file of Indians making their way towards them over the land, and it was clear, 
by the direction they were taking, that they were making for the top of a hill. 

“ Come on," cried John Wharton, whose keen eyes had perceived what 
they were after, and with a rush and a roar Captain Standish and the rest got 
to the top of the hill first. 

The Indians seemed to understand that they were beaten in the first move, 
and, retreating behind some trees, every man hid himself by a separate tree 
and let fly their arrows, aiming especially at Captain Standish and Hobbamock. 

Now, Hobbamock had always had the fame of being a kind of witch or 
wizard amongst them, and remembering this, he flung off his coat and with 
screams and yells he flung out his hands towards them, and in that fashion 
ran at them. The sight of that screaming, yelling naked Indian, running with 
flying feet, would never be forgotten by John to his dying day ; it was blood- 
curdling. And it was evidently too much for these superstitious savages, 
for they turned and tore away, even faster than the swift, screaming fury that 
rushed after them. 

“Now, then, that that is over, for the time being," exclaimed Captain 
Standish, “ what are you Wessagussett men going to do ? " 

Then one man said, surlily and in a hopeless tone : 

“ It seems to me we had better all give up any silly notion of settling in 
a place like this. These Indian friends are too many for us ! " And the rest 
of the party murmured, as though they agreed with him. 

“ So," snapped the Captain, “you are ready to throw up the sponge at 
the first fight. ‘ Too many for you ! ’ Why, sir, for my part, I would not 
mind living here with far fewer men than you and your sixty-five. These 
Indians have been made what they have turned out, and, sir, it is you, and 
men like you, who have done it. You have forgotten your place : you have 
let them forget theirs ; you have crawled to them instead of commanded ; 
you have bribed till you had nothing left to bribe with ; and, then," — ^looking 
at the miserable, half-clad wretches before him — “ you even sold your clothing 
to them, begged of them for food ; worked for them in making their canoes 
in order' to get it — small marvel that these Indians who leave all their work 
to their squaws, looked on you as squaws. I, for one, shall be glad to 
hear that you have all cleared." 

As he spoke these words the new colonists looked like whipped curs. 

They talked among themselves for a little, and then some of them decided 
to sail away along the coast towards the Dutch fishing fleet ; but a few of the 
rest asked permission to go to Plymouth with Captain Standish, and he con- 
sented. Then he waited until the other men got into their ship, and sparing 
them, though he did it with great difficulty, sufiicient com to make them bread 
by the way— he watched them set sail. 


136 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


Stephen Wharton had watched their vessel disappearing across the bay, 
then he sighed and remarked to Captain Standish : 

“ They are going off in different spirit to that in which they came. Me- 
thinks, they intended to show us the way things should be done. Verily, 
pride goeth before a fall, and a haughty spirit before destruction." 

“ Ay, ay ! But they might have made a better do of it if they had been 
kinder and more honest men. Why, man, your John here is worth twenty 
of them. When I think of the way you and your party," — here he raised 
his voice, roaring at the men who had decided to go back to Plymouth with 
him — “ have shamed us all before these savages, I feel all on fire with rage. 
Now — what do you want ? " — turning to a young Indian who came up to 
the party in humble, smiling fashion. “Yes, you may creep and cringe, you 
miserable worm ! Hobbamock, ask him what he wants ! " 

Hobbamock talked a minute or two with him, and then he turned to Captain 
Standish, saying : 

“ Young Indian — he say — he no one of the others. He always think much 
of English. He say he like go with us. Will Captain take him ? " 

“ Ask him when his people had intended to carry out their plot and kill 
all these Wessagusset men ? " demanded the Captain. 

And then it came out that the Indians were puzzled as to what to do with 
the ship ; for they knew not how to sail her ; and they had taken the idea 
into their heads that if they only had enough canoes they could draw her along 
with ropes, and so get the vessel up the river. So they were using the new 
colonists to make these very canoes for them, and giving them food for their 
pains, and they only wanted two more and then the end would have come ; 
and as the men of the New Colony, who had remained with the Captain, heard 
what Hobbamock said, as he turned the Indian story into English, they shivered. 

The Captain decided to take the young Indian along with them ; for he 
thought it might serve to train him as an interpreter, and they sailed off to 
their home at Plymouth, where their folk were awaiting them with great anxiety ; 
but before they left, Hobbamock borrowed the sword of one of the men and 
cut off the head of the boasting Wituwamat and hurried back to the boat carry- 
ing his horrible trophy. 

“ Here," cried John, springing to his feet from the boat, “ just you drop 
that ! " 

But Hobbamock stood there smiling and saying, like a little child that 
was pleased with a new toy : “ Head, head of enemy. We fix him on fort 
under flag of King James, and all Indians that see, feel their threats like water. 
Head — head of enemy ! they say, and no behave — our head there too ! " 

“Hobbamock is right, quite right," exclaimed Captain Standish. “It 
is a horrible thing to do, but it is no good dealing half-measures to these black- 
hearted fiends ; and, after all, it is no worse than some of us have seen in Old 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


137 


England. Think of the heads that stare down from some of the bridges in 
London and the men on the Highways, who are hung in their chains. It is 
just the same idea as that of Hobbamock. Yes,'' — nodding to the Indian — 
“we will take it with us and do as you say." 

Oh, the rejoicings when they appeared, but as Exy and her mother clung 
to their son and brother, Hobbamock suddenly passed them carrying his grisly 
head and walking as though he were carrying the sceptre of a king ; for to him 
that head was the outward sign of a real triumph, and as he walked he was 
actually talking to it ; and shaking it. 

“ Why, you no boast now ? Oh, you were great men. Mighty was your 
hand — keen was your knife. Was it ? " shaking the head. “ Was it ? Speak I 
Tell Hobbamock what you think now ! " And he shook the head again. 

Exy screamed. 

“ Ah," her brother said — “ that was just how I felt about it ; but Captain 
Standish seemed to think it would strike terror into the hearts of any Indians 
that came watching around, and I think he is right." 

The next step was to take the man, who had returned with them, and to 
send him back with a message to his master, and he went, unwiUingly enough. 



He hurried hack to the boat carrying his horrible trophy. 


138 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


This was the message : 

For our parts it never so much as entered into our minds to take such 
a course with you till we were forced to it by your own plots ; and you have 
yourselves to thank for what has happened. If ever the same kind of thing 
should occur again, we will see to it that your country will never hold you ; 
it would not be big enough ; for we will never suffer you or yours to rest in 
peace in that case till we have utterly destroyed you. Take this as a warning. 
Leave the huts at Wessagusset untouched, and if you have any English that 
are prisoners send this messenger back with them."' 

After many days news reached them that the chief was very sorry, and 
that three English were killed, before he heard from the Governor, or he would 
have sent them. He was anxious to make his peace with them, for it seemed 
to him and to aU his people that the God of the English was angry with them, 
for many had perished of disease, and their men were so weak that they had 
been unable to sow their fields. So ended the Great Plot, and so ended the 
First War I 


CHAPTER XXV 


DISCONTENT 


HERE was a kind of lull came suddenly into the lives of the people in 



1 the Mayflower Settlement ; for it followed after a time of intense ex- 
citement that had kept all their minds in a fever, while Captain Standish and 
the rest were away fighting the Indians ; and in those quiet, nothing-doing 
times folk are able to notice things. 

“ There’s one thing,” exclaimed Captain Miles Standish, “ and that is, 
we will never be caught napping again. Anyone, except those that are blind, 
would see that we are surrounded by enemies, and we must be ready for them.” 

“ Ay, ay ! ” chimed in Stephen Wharton. “ The more I see of these 
Indians the more they seem to me to be like so many children. One day they 
love you, and the next they are angry with you. The least thing puts them 
out. You can’t be sure of them ; and whatever is in Captain Standish ’s mind, 
yes, whatever it may be. I’m with him, heart and soul.” This to those standing 
by, while John regarded Captain Standish with positive worship in his gaze. 

Governor Bradford looked at the Captain inquiringly, and in answer to 
that look that Man-of-War squared his shoulders and said : 

“ What I mean is this — we must all of us turn to and complete that fort 
on the hill. We have been tinkering at it for nearly ten months. Some of 
us perhaps thought the labour too much, remembering how much we had to 
do already ; and I know that some of us thought it unnecessary. But there 
the fact is ! We must make it big enough to crowd into, in case of necessity.’" 

“ And,” Governor Bradford said thoughtfully, “if it is not needed for 
war it will certainly be useful in times of peace."" 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


139 


So during the next month everyone who could labour at carpentering, or 
assist those who did, toiled to make the fort on the hill as stout and strong and 
large as possible. The palisading all around the hill was made more secure, and 
at length they felt that they were able to turn it to a good use by holding the 
first big Town Meeting in the main large room. They also determined to turn 
the Common Meeting House, in which they had usually met before, into a store 
house. The roof was flat, and being made very strong, the artillery was placed 
on top of it, behind wooden walls, with openings for the guns, and sentinels 
were placed there night and day. 

Now, what do you think the first Town Meeting was about ? “ The 

Indians ? No ! “ Their food ” } No ! It was called to put out a smoul- 
dering fire, a fire that had begun to smoulder among themselves. It was the 
fire of DISCONTENT. The way it arose was this. 

When these Mayflower people first landed they thought, and it was a very 
happy thought, that they would have “ all things in common.’' The rich 
should not have more, and the poor should not have less. Of course, this was 
a very fine idea on the part of those, who like Governor Bradford, Elder Win- 
slow, and the Carvers had put down most money to pay the expenses of coming 
out and stocking the Colony. It was really very generous of them. I suppose 
that no one except those that were better off would have dreamed of proposing 
such an unheard of thing. 

Ah, and they carried it out too ! In all the sacrifices they had had to 
undergo, they all shared what they had, and they all went without when they 
hadn’t. The fields that they sowed — the thirty-six to fifty acres of land — 
were said to be the property of them all. And whatever profit that was made 
by sending to England any of the furs that they traded for with the Indians 
was to go, not to one or two, but to the whole of the Colony. 

More than that they shared the work. The men and the boys, boys like 
John Wharton, worked alongside each other, either in the fields, or at building. 
Not a soul was idle ! And you really would have thought that it would have 
worked very well. 

But it did not ! 

When men found themselves at work in the fields labouring hard for others 
who were lying at home sick ; when some of them were too weak to do more 
than half a day, and those who were stronger had toj work the whole day ; when 
some of them were handier than the rest and could use their tools, and use them 
well, while others could only shift about the wood they cut or place it, just 
as they were told, then these stronger and more skilled men began to have a 
feeling creep into them of “ This-isn’t-quite-fair-you-know. We are work- 
ing and planning and using our skill for other folk and other people’s 
families.” 

Gradually, too, men who were older, graver and wiser, felt it was a come 


140 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


down to be asked to do tasks that any mere labourer could do ; or boys like 
John Wharton and the young Billingtons. 

But I think that perhaps the men would have put up with it, only they 
saw how very hard the arrangement was on the women. They were quite 
prepared to let their women endure any hardships that came to them through 
themselves, and they knew that their love for them would lead them to do it 
without a murmur ; but when men like Stephen Wharton and Elder Win- 
slow found that their wives and daughters had to slave from morning till night 
at washing the clothes of the many other men in the Colony who had no other 
women to do it for them ; and that they had to cook for all the men and mend 
all their things ; then they felt they had brought their wives and daughters 
out to a very hard and troubled life. 

Beside all this, these men seemed to take these things for granted and 
look on it as a right ; and all that the women and daughters got for all their 
work was just their ordinary share in any food that was going. 

“ What are we going to do, Steve ? " questioned Mistress Wharton. “ We 
didn’t mind it for a bit, my man ! Of course we didn’t ! We expected to 
rough it and wait on you and John and ourselves, hand and foot. But when 
one after another died off and there were fewer of us women ; and when those 
extra thirty-five came along, it became a different thing, and, if you had brought 
back many of the Wessagusset men, it would have been harder still ! I suppose 
that perhaps there may be some ship come in from England, even yet, bringing 
more men, and perhaps a sprinkling of women and children, and then things will 
grow harder yet. I’d work my fingers to the bone, and work myself into the 
grave willingly, and so would Mistress Winslow, and the other elder women ; but 
we’re not going to stand by and see young women turning themselves into 
old hags, and growing girls, like Exy, here, becoming mere drabs and sluts. 
There is no joy in the life for any of them.” 

Now you see how the fire of discontent began to smoulder ! And it was 
to put out this fire that the first Town Meeting was called. 

There was a good deal of talking done, and I am afraid a great many rathei 
unpleasant things were said. But at last Mistress Wharton rose and rapped 
out one of her usual common-sense get-at-the-root-of-it speeches. 

“I’ve been listening to a great deal of talk here — about the things that 
you all seem agreed won’t do.” Then with a laugh — “ there seem a good many 
of them ! But I've listened in vain for someone to tell us what will. WeU, 
we’ve had two years and six months of working together, each of us for all 
the rest, but, somehow, it don’t seem to answer ! So I say. Let every family 
of us go on its own ! Let us have for ourselves what food we grow ; and if 
there’s any time over after we’ve done our own bit, then let us work for the 
rest. Let the washing and the cooking and the service that we women give 
be paid for by the extra food that the single men and the men widowers, and 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


141 



We must all turn to and complete that fort on the hill,” Captain Standish told them. 


those whose wives have not joined them yet, grow beyond what they need 
for themselves. Bit by bit some of the women will find it will pay them better, 
and keep them quite as well, as if they themselves were working in the fields. 
Then, I think, that even if other newcomers should come to the Colony, the 
women and the girls and those too weak to do real hard work would be able 
to do the very things that would bring them in, and bring their children in, 
some kind of wages for their labour ! " 

The women who listened to what she had to say, showed that they agreed 
with her by cries of ‘'Yes, yes! Mistress Wharton has put it!'' 

Governor Bradford had nodded his head approvingly while she spoke, 
and Elder Brewster even, who had pursed up his lips when she rose to her 
feet, now looked at her with pleased eyes. 

Stephen Wharton sprang up and said : 

“ Friends, I think — and not because she is my wife either — I think that 
we have just heard the truth. Anyway, it's not only the best, but the only 
suggestion that has been made for doing anything. And I propose that the 
Colony makes a grant to each family just for one year of a bit of land measured 
out at that rate of one acre to each person ; — that is, to take my own case, 


142 


THE YOUNO PILGRIMS. 


there would be one acre for me, one for my wife, one for my son, and another 
for my daughter. I think, I really think, it would give us all a new interest 
in our work. There 'd be a sense creep up of * What's Mine, is Mine.’ Then, if 
my wife or Exy, instead of working at their acre, choose to mend, or cook, or wash 
for men, who will pay them wages by putting so much work into the acre at 
which they would otherwise be working for themselves, then that will be 
fair." 

Up sprang John Billington. 

“ Do you mean to tell me that after working at my own acre, or after my 
boys have worked at theirs, that I should go and work again at some acre be- 
longing to a woman, or girl, in order to get her to wash and mend and cook for 
me ? 'Tisn't fair.” 

“And it isn’t fair," called out young John, “that my mother and Exy 
should slave for you while they could be working at their own acre ! " 

“ Hush, hush ! Boy," said his father, in the old imperious way. 

“ Sir ! " cried John, looking at Governor Bradford, “ I will be silent out 
of respect to my father, but how can I keep quiet, when I see mother and Exy 
toiling like Indian squaws ? " 

“ Quite right, lad ! Quite right," said Governor Bradford, “ and I think 
that that is the way we will settle it. Stephen Wharton has proposed, and 
I second it myself, that we grant to each family for one year an acre for each 
person in the family, and as some of the land is better than other, I propose 
that it shall be divided out by casting lots." 

With the exception of one or two, the meeting quite agreed, and from that 
time forward everyone felt that they were being fairly treated and went to work 
with a will. The result was that, with a new hope that was springing up in their 
minds, everybody planted more than they had done under the old state of 
things, and it looked as if at the harvest in 1623 would have even more 
cause for a real thanksgiving. 

But while they were waiting, many a time in Stephen Wharton’s cot- 
tage they went starving to bed, and so they did in other cottages, and they 
never knew where breakfast was to come from. 

But all this drove John and the younger members of the Settlement to 
lurk in the woods, and to watch on the sea with their one boat and one net, 
so that they might snare what deer they could and net some fish. Tired as 
they were, they took turns at the business — in fact the whole Settlement was 
like a set of starving animals foraging for food. 

Then came a time of even greater trial : — the burning sun of July glared 
down upon their fields and there was no rain ; but these men, who had learned 
to rely upon God, gathered at last for a determined and united attempt to 
ask Him to send the much-needed rain. 

The Indians were amazed to see them at worship, although it was not the 


THE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


143 


Sabbath ; and when they asked why and were told, they watched very curi- 
ously to see the result. 

Bright were the skies in the early morning, and not even so much as a 
hint of a cloud appeared ; and the Indians laughed at one another at the very 
thought of rain. But that night the clouds began to gather, wind-borne from 
the distance, and before many hours were passed the thirsty fields were drinking 
in the precious water from the clouds. 

To grow up amongst people who made such a habit of relying upon God 
was a wonderful thing for youngsters like John and Exy. It was better than 
dozens of sermons, and they both learned to look upon God as Someone Who 
was as real and alive as their own father. 

And then at last came the final great deliverance and escape ! 

At the end of July, John Wharton was standing near the Fort, and looking 
carelessly out to sea, when with his keen sight he detected a sail on the hori- 
zon ; and in great excitement he rushed to the Settlement crying : 

“ A sail ! A sail ! ” 

The little colony crowded down to the shore, and to their delight the boats, 
as they put off from the ship, which was caUed the Anne, actually contained 
some of the relatives of those who were aheady there. 

In a few minutes Elder Brewster might have been seen embracing his daugh- 



Dost wish thou wert going with them ? " Governor Bradford asked. 


144 


TEE YOUNG PILGRIMS. 


ters Fear and Patience. A little further on Master Fuller, the only doctor 
in the Settlement, was hugging his wife, Bridget, as though he would never let 
her go. There, too, was the wife of Robert Hicks and his children, and the 
wife and two children of William Hilton. 

Beside all these there were about fifty others, and they brought the news 
that close behind them was another ship called The Little James, with more 
passengers and more supplies. 

It was just in time ! The new arrivals were dismayed to discover that 
the utmost the Mayflower men could give them was a lobster or bit of fish, 
without bread, and nothing to drink but a cup of water ; but the vessels had 
abundance on board and the wants of the Settlement were relieved for a time. 

Altogether the two boats brought about a hundred new emigrants, and it 
looked as if the Colony would become an important place. Two hundred 
and thirty- three they made in all, and they faced the future with a new hope. 

At first there were difficulties ; for the newcomers did not care to have the 
food they had brought with them shared out amongst those who were already 
there; neither did the Mayflower think it right that the new-comers should 

share in the harvest that they themselves had sown. But the difficulties were 
soon settled, and when the good ship Anne sailed away in September it left 
behind the little crowd gazing seawards. 

Slowly the little crowd of watchers melted away by twos and threes, but 
Governor Bradford and Stephen Wharton and his wife and John and Exy 
remained as if rooted to the spot. 

Suddenly, Governor Bradford turned to John, and slapping him heartily 
on the shoulder, exclaimed : 

“ What, lad ! Still watching ? Dost wish thou wert going with them ? 

John looked at the kindly Governor for a moment earnestly, and then, with 
a loving movement, he slipped his arm into his mother's and said : 

“ Ah, sir, my eyes may be there ! But my heart is here ! 

And his mother said in a low but firm voice : 

“ And so say all of us ! " 

Then they went down, down to the old life of work and waiting, the doing 
of small trifles that added together made no trifle ; bearing for one another 
and with one another ; sowing the life that was to-be ; little knowing, little 
dreaming that some day the waters on which they had gazed would be covered 
by a multitude of ships, and that their People would become a multitude, “ as 
many as the stars of the sky, and as the sand which is by the sea-shore innu- 
merable ! " 

Thus was the birth of the United States ! And its End ? Its End ? 
— Well, its End is not yet ! 


Printed in Great Britain by Hunt, Barnard & Co., Ltd., London and Aylesbury. 





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